Example of Man
by MissJinny
Summary: *~*Complete*~* R/V Yaoi. Radditz is an upcoming elite everyone believes is dead. Vegeta thinks he watched him die & struggles with inner termoil/rage at his father. R
1. Chapter One

disclaimer: this is AN A/U!! and kinda complicated in the beginning so bear with me. i don't own DBZ or any affiliate characters.  
A/N: _..._ is set for italics, usually when a character is thinking but also to emphasise important words or phrases.  
~....~ is a dream sequence, probably not many, but there is at least one. =P  
*~*~*~ are breaks in the story and switch of character roles  
If anyone has problems with the accents in the first parts of the story let me know and i'll dumb them down a bit.   
Warning: There is possible Yaoi between Vegeta and Radditz. but it will be later on, so if you're like me and want to read some yaoi and want it RIGHTNOW, you'll hafta wait. -.-  
  
  
  
A clang of crashing metal upon metal echoed repeatedly through the sticky air. Two squadrons of armored men charged and clashed together, trying to run each other through with swords, others in a physical struggle. Dead bodies lay at their feet as they ran through streams of blood, sweat and shit. All were male, boys mostly, too young to know what they were fighting over or know any way to resolve a fight than to shred their enemies into a pile of refuse.  
  
A man came charging through the crowd, sword held at his hip and pointed at his next victim. His dark hair was in mats of blood and mud around in head in a thick mane, the lengths of it touching the backs of his knees and running across the dented and soiled armor across his shoulders and chest. A battle cry ripped from his throat forming into a cacophony of screaming vocal chords that soon echoed their leaders initial cry. He drove the sword deep, sluing through hard armor and soft flesh. Putting a foot to the startled enemy, he pushed the body from his blade and turned for another blow.  
  
Hours had passed that felt like days, the man turned slowly, stumbling over his own feet, to see the fallen troops behind him and trodden into the earth. Both sides had fallen, leaving soft sighs of pain and whispered last words, he was the last man standing. A lone figure stepped through the trees in front of him, a royal crest embossed on glistening chest armor. The bloodied warrior made a fist and placed it over his heart, bowing his head in respect before he fell unconscious.  
  
  
Days later the field had been cleaned up. Before the families of the victims could remove their loved ones, D.S. had entered and gathered armor and weaponry. D.S. stood for Detritus Supplicants, but the peasants and commoners had taken to saying it meant Death Scavengers. D.S. had been imposed by he government to salvage any reusable armor and weapons, but they had taken their authority to a new level and helped themselves to personal items and heirlooms. Rarely, but known to happen, a soldiers' clothes would be removed to be sold on the street, usually back to the deceased's family.  
  
The bodies still sat where they had fallen, families entering through the forest to find their children or husbands. Both sides of the battle were there, families from either side giving their condolences to the other as though there were no war between them. A small family entered the field, a massive man with head shaven bald and thick black mustache, his wife walking carefully beside him and a small, wiry boy gripping his mother's hand. Husband and wife walked to the first body, rolling him over slowly to reveal half of the flesh of his face torn away to the bone. Maggots crawled along the sinew and ligaments, feasting on the semi-decayed flesh. The woman placed a hand over her mouth to keep from retching, the young boy led her to a line of trees and handed her his canteen. The bald man watched them go before moving to another body, and then another.  
  
He had spent several minutes moving along the seemingly endless field of dead, looking forlornly at the body at his feet he rolled the man over and heard a faint grunt. Shocked, he knelt beside and placed a hand over the man's chest. A slight rise and fall under his fingers and small sigh through the lips of the "dead" man and he rose to his feet. "Bite! Over 'ere' boy! Quickly!" A deep baritone with a thick accent boomed across the field. The young boy in the trees came to with a start and raced toward his father, leaping across bodies before finally coming to a rest. "Thees ones alive." Bite looked at his father in surprise before carefully checking the vital signs of the "dead" man.  
  
He set the man's head gently into his small lap and pressed a canteen to his cracked lips. "Drink." Bite tipped the canteen slowly and watched as a small trickle went down his cheek, leaving a small stream of clean tanned skin in its wake. "Meestar, you must drink." A light fluttering of the man's eyelids and Bite pressed the flagon to his lips again. The man drank.  
  
"Bite, you stay 'ere with these man, I'll find your brother." The bald man walked carefully away, checking faces as he went. He sat a while, watching the man's chest rise and fall, seeing him fight with consciousness as his muscles twitched and he grunted. His mother sat down beside him.  
  
"He's alive." Bite looked up at his mother with large round eyes. She nodded and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket.  
  
"I 'eard your father…is he well?" She poured some of the cool water from the canteen onto the cloth in her hand and began blotting the muck from the man's face.  
  
Bite shrugged his skinny shoulders and nodded his head towards his father. His mother looked and saw the hefty man heave a familiar looking bulk onto his broad shoulders. Her eyes teamed as she turned away, concentrating on cleaning the man's face in front of her. As she bent down the eyes snapped open and a strong hand nearly crushed her dainty one as it hovered over his face.  
  
"Eet's okay, meestar…you're among friends." Bite looked down at the man's face, whose eyes had shifted from his mother to Bite himself. The crushing hand relaxed and Bite saw his mother shrink away slightly before cautiously continuing her task.  
  
"He is awake?" A deep voice called from across the field.  
  
"Aye…for now." The woman's voice was small and was nearly lost in the space between her husband and herself. She hooked a finger around a lock of hair on the man's cheek and began to push it away when it caught violently and he sat upright and hissed air through his teeth. "Oh my…" The man brought a hand to his cheek and pulled it away again, a fresh flow of blood had covered his palm. Hooking his own finger through the clump of hair he yanked the ends out of the wound where they had been caught in the thick scab forming.  
  
The quick flow of blood to his brain made his head spin, he set his forehead into his hand and placed a hand flat on the gooey ground beside him. A large shadow washed over him and he looked up slowly at the mammoth of a man with the body of a young boy over one shoulder. "Can you walk?" The man struggled for a moment, but stood on his own feet, although shakily. He took a step and began falling towards the ground when a strong hand grasped his arm and hauled him back to his feet again. He looked up at the bald man who was grinning, "Guess not, eh? 'Sokay, tha's why you have Nappa express." Managing a small crooked smile, the man winced as his lips cracked open and began to seep.  
  
Nappa slouched slightly and bent a knee, heaved the man over his other shoulder and stood. The man's stomach was pressed tightly into Nappa's shoulder and as Nappa took the first steps out of the field he felt broken ribs screaming. His head reeled as he bounced on that thick shoulder.  
  
"Wha's your name, soldier? Unless you'd prefer we call you the undead?" Bite walked behind his father and looked up at the man's face where it bobbed.  
  
As his mind began to shut down and the shock started to fade from his ribs he looked at Bite and grinned, "Radditz." 


	2. Chapter Two

***For any flamers, you guys need to relax. It's just a fiction story...just like the show. sorry to bust your mind bubble.***  
  
  
Radditz awoke slowly, the smells and comforts around him were foreign. He lay on a soft bed of straw and could smell a thick broth brewing across the room. Grasping his spinning head he sat up slowly and took in his surroundings. He was in a small room, the walls a dark brown with light soot trails running up from around a fireplace, an arched doorway stood beside it. A small cooking fire crackled with a large pot hanging over its dancing flames. The smell from that pot made his stomach rumble and whine. Standing slowly he walked carefully into the next room, the doors hinges screeching in protest. Bright light captured him, as his eyes adjusted he saw a humble room, nearly three times the size of the one had woke in. The walls were bright white, probably recently painted or washed, a small oak table sat in the corner with several large chairs surrounding it. A cushioned chair sat by another fireplace, looking well used and worn with a large basket of linens and threads setting beside it.  
  
A door at the end of the room opened and Radditz recognized the woman form before as she entered carrying a basket and shaking dirt from her skirts. When she saw him standing in the doorway she looked surprised but then rushed to get him a seat as he began to sway on his feet.  
  
"Radditz, you shouldn't be up and about if you aren't ready." Her scoldings were only half serious as she smiled and set the basket on the table and unloaded the contents. Thick ham bones, loaves of bread, jam, eggs and cheese. Radditz looked at them as she began putting them away, his mouth watering. He reached for a hunk of cheese when a firm slap caught him by surprise. He took his hand away, rubbing the back of it and looked up at the woman with his mouth hanging open. "No eating…dinner will be done soon. Den you can eat. Before den, you need to go wash up." His mouth still hung open as he looked at her with confused eyes. "Radditz, no man in dis house eats without washing up!"  
  
Getting up slowly, she pushed him toward the door. Walking a few steps he stopped and turned, still looking confused. "No more of thees, go on!" She opened the door and pushed the larger man outside.  
  
"Yes mother," Radditz grinned.  
  
She shook her head, "I have…had two boys. Natha and Bite. Natha is gone now. You call me Lunna like everyone else." He nodded and she forced a smile over her tear filled eyes. "Shower's tha' way." She pointed across the yard to a closed-in bath before shutting the door softly.  
  
  
  
Radditz crossed the yard slowly, his equilibrium still felt off, but he would manage for himself. He opened the bath door and saw the fixings of a decent shower. Turning one of the handles a spat of hot water flecked his face. He turned the other quickly and soon had the small room full of steam. After carefully stepping out of clothes that had to have been worn at least seven days, he stepped into the hot spray and stood there. He could feel the dried blood, mud and sweat slowly peel away with the flow. A light knock on the bath door and he jumped, unsure of what to do. Standing behind the bath door, he opened it and stuck his head around the side. Bite stood holding out a towel and bar of lye. "Ma forgot to give you these." Smiling at the boy, Radditz took the towel and soap, shut the door and waited to hear retreating footsteps before getting back into the shower.  
  
The lye burned his skin lightly as he scrubbed as hard as he could, layers of dead skin and grim melted away. He worked a heavy lather and ran large soapy hands across his mass of muscle, trying his best to get his entire back and carefully cleaned his bruised tail. The cuts and abrasions stung to high heaven but he didn't care. Working a thick lather in his mass of hair he carefully ran his fingers through to the ends to work out any clumps or snarls, and to avoid any other painful treats of hair healing into his wounds. Rinsing his mane, he shook his hair carefully and stood under the spray a moment longer before drying himself off as roughly as he could.  
  
A large gash ran around his thigh, not very deep but as long as his forearm. His ribs felt awful, deep purple and yellow bruises running along one side, he took a note to wrap them later. Other than formal scratches and bruises the only other wound was the deep laceration on his cheek, it wasn't to the bone, but deep enough for maggots to clean away the dirty flesh and allow it to heal healthy. After finger combing his hair from his face, he looked around him and found a new predicament…he had no clothes.  
  
Tucking the towel neatly around his hips, he stalked quickly to the small house and pushed open the door, shocking Bite and Lunna as the naked man slammed the door behind him. A flush came to his cheeks as he tried to stammer out his need of clothing, when Nappa entered the door behind him.  
  
Nappa's eyes went wide at the sight of the dripping warrior nearly naked in his kitchen. A booming laugh filled the room as Nappa's face cracked and he slapped Radditz on the back. Lunna left the room in a hurry and came scurrying back with an armload of clothes. She didn't look at Radditz' face, instead looking at the floor as he took the clothes from her arms and made his way quickly to the small room he woke up in.  
  
  
  
Nearly an hour had passed before Radditz came from his room, wearing a pair of dark pants a little loose in the waist, and a tee shirt that pulled a little too tight across his chest. His hair had dried to soft waves and took on a chunky look of thick interwoven spikes. Being clean, the gash on his face was more prominent as it glared a deep scarlet against his tanned skin. He walked into the kitchen and sat in a chair at one of its sides.  
  
Lunna was at the fire, stirring a pot that bubbled and gave off luscious smells. Bite stood at a sideboard cutting up hunks of meat and Nappa was sitting at the table sewing. Radditz watched Nappa with a look of humor and confusion. Nappa grinned, "Nothing wrong with knowing 'ow to sew…'specially if yer wife is makin' a large supper." Nappa winked at him, Radditz laughed and gripped his aching ribs. "Are they broken?" Radditz glanced at his ribs and nodded.  
  
"I believe so."  
  
Nappa stood, "Well come over here into the light and let me 'ave a look at them." Radditz followed Nappa to the fire and gingerly pulled the shirt over his head. Nappa looked at the ugly bruises that crossed Radditz' ribs and lightly pressed a thumb onto one of them. Radditz sucked in a deep breath and grimaced. "Only a couple more to go…" Being as careful as before, Napa prodded the next three ribs and got a similar response to two of them. "Seems you've got three smashed ribs…stay 'ere, I'll get some wrap." Nappa walked into a room Radditz didn't remember seeing before.  
  
Radditz looked around the room to see what else he had missed from his earlier gazing. There were family photos on the walls, animal skins and trophy antlers from two buck. One of the boys in the pictures Radditz didn't know, he assumed it was Natha, the boy who had died in battle. Radditz felt uncomfortable not recognizing the boy's face and wondered if he had been the one to kill the boy. His thoughts were broken when Nappa's stomping feet brought him back to the fire with a handful of torn sheets.  
  
"Don' move too much…soon as we're done we can eat." Nappa grinned and Radditz raised his arms above his head. Nappa pulled gently on each strip after wrapping it slowly around Radditz' rib cage. Radditz grunted a couple times during the ordeal and was helped by Nappa to pull the snug shirt back down across the thick bandages.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"No problems…now we eat!" Nappa walked Radditz to the table and sat down rubbing his meaty hands together at the food spread across its small surface. Radditz smiled at them as they all began to heap mounds of food onto plates and pass them around. His stomach rumbled in delight, as he reached for a large plate a stern hand slapped his.  
  
"You can't have any of that!" Lunna's stern voice shook him out of his trance. "You 'aven't eaten in who knows how long…you eat this." She set a small bowl of thick broth in front of him. "You eat that, and no more…you 'ear me?!"  
  
Radditz looked to Nappa who winked at him. "Ooooh no. Nappa you leave that boy be. He eats that broth and nothing else! He'd only 'eave it back up later!" Nappa shrugged at Radditz in defeat and Lunna sat down smiling.  
  
"You eat all that up." She smiled at Radditz who looked down into the bowl of broth. Giving a mental shrug he put a full spoon to his lips and ate.  
  
  
***A/N: Since the flamers probably left after the begining, the rest of us can revel knowing that the show _is_ real....right? 


	3. Chapter Three

~A nearby face spit a mouthful of blood, crimson staining the white tunic and streaking the silvery armor strapped to a narrow chest. Radditz pulled his sword from the man's ribs and grinned as he watched him fall. He planted the sword into the earth at his side and gave a toothy leer at the judges. One of the women's face had gone pale and she turned her head aside as she took notes on Radditz' performance. The other two judges, an elite woman and royal guard elite Bardock (also his father) showed no sign of shock or any other emotion as they scribbled on pads and glanced now and then at Radditz.  
  
"You're free to go." Bardock's voice was monotone, Radditz grunted and grasped his sword by the hilt, sheathed it and stalked out of the arena. _Baka…what does he know…well a lot actually seeing as how he's a royal elite…Christ I didn't do that badly…three soldiers in five minutes, that's got to be excellent right?_~  
  
Radditz was shaken awake, he sat bolt upright a hand tightened around Bite's neck, the boy's eyes were large as he hung in the air like a rag doll. Coming to his senses, Radditz dropped the boy onto the floor and lay back with a sigh. "That's not a good thing to do around me boy…" Bite nodded and rubbed his neck with one hand. "What's wrong? It's still the middle of the night."  
  
Bite looked at his feet, "I can't sleep…" Running a hand through his hair, Radditz sighed.  
  
"Why don't you wake your father?" Radditz covered himself with the thick blanket and rolled onto his side, facing away from the boy.  
  
Bite tapped his shoulder and sat on the edge of the bed. "He sleeps too heavy."  
  
"And your mother?"  
  
"I can't talk to 'er, it's a man's conversation." Bite sighed and put a hand on the soldiers shoulder.  
  
Groaning, Radditz turned to face the boy, "What is so important it can't wait 'til morning?"  
  
Bite sat on the floor beside the low bed and crossed his legs. He took a look of intense thought for a moment before continuing, "I keep 'aving dreams about my brother." Radditz nodded and waited a moment before the boy continued, "I keep watching him die…"  
  
"It's a bad dream, Bite. Bad dreams can't hurt you."  
  
"But…it's so real. He standing back to me, his armor already dirty and dented and he's fighting with someone. Den he turns around real quick and a broadsword is jammed into him, right about 'ere." Bite placed his small fist just above his navel before looking up at Radditz with large teary eyes.  
  
"You just lost your brother, Bite…you're going to have dreams like that for a while, but I promise you they'll go away." Radditz closed his eyes for a minute, scanning a sea of faces he had murdered only three days ago. "Everyone died on the field, so the man that killed your brother is dead."  
  
Bite stood and nodded, walking slowly to the door. He stepped outside the door jam before turning back, "You didn't…" Radditz winced and watched as the boy faded back into the darkness of the house. He laid awake, arms folded beneath his head searching that sea of faces harder until the first rays of sun bleached the walls.  
  
*~*~* Elsewhere*~*~*  
  
  
The prince stalked the halls, the palace had settled for the night many hours ago, yet he paced and pondered as the last sights of the battlefield he had seen so few nights ago played through his memory over and over. He hadn't taken part, only dropped back to see how the end results would play, doing exactly as his father had bade him. He'd watched as the forty plus men raged and foamed at the mouth while pulling out the guts of their enemy. After a while he'd found himself vying for whoever had the upper hand instead of his own army. The dead teamed, he had stepped from the trees as the last warrior stumbled amongst the destruction and death, long thick hair had fallen into his face and the Ouji had no idea who he had been but knew they had won the battle when the man knelt in customary fashion to his prince.  
  
A burning shame cursed his soul; he could feel it when he was alone, tired or bored. Always eating, churning in the pit of his stomach. He'd needed to shed blood alongside those men that had lost all of their lives, so he should have. _Damn my father! Damn him to hell! A prince must fight amongst his people…_ Growling, he punched the wall, a crater slightly larger than his fist left in the marble. He stalked to his room and threw himself over a chair, tail lashing out behind him and one foot tapping. With a guttural howl, he mourned the death of his soldiers, and the only one to see the prince embracing a forced cowardice before he crumpled in death.  
  
An attendant rushed into the room, his ki level arched as he expected to find the prince in mortal danger. Coming to a halt in front of the Ouji, he looked around him in alarm. "Vegeta, what's wrong?!" Vegeta heaved himself from the chair, tail lashing in fury behind him.  
  
"Why, nothing is wrong! How could watching forty men die and not caring be wrong?!" Vegeta's face grew hot and he could feel gold flickering through his hair. The attendant backed up a pace and fell into submission on one knee. Vegeta hnn'd and turned away, wanting to beat the man senseless but instead stalked to the window and leaned out as far as he could. Cold bracing night air washed across his face and rippled through his hair. That's what he wanted. Turning he yelled to the man still crouched on the floor. "I'm going out. I'll kill any who follow, then you for not relaying the message." With that, he leapt from the windowsill and embraced a freefall before taking flight to anywhere. 


	4. Chapter Four

Bardock paced the length of his house, he didn't like it not one bit. He picked up the paper he had thrown to the floor only five minutes ago, scanned the contents and threw it to the floor again. _Impossible, he can't be dead. He was too good, strong and proud, hell…he was going to become an elite after the battle._ A range of emotion played across his face as he remembered his son's trial for the elite guard. He had done better than any other man or woman there. Faster than Bardock had when he was his age, he had been proud but refused to show it in the arena, Radditz was cocky enough.   
  
The letter had come not twenty minutes ago, telling of Radditz' death that no one man had come out alive. Bardock had beaten the carrier near to death feeling a bloodlust one can only feel after losing a loved one. After the medics removed the unfortunate carriers body, he had sent two-trusted men to gather his son's body from the field. He would have gone himself but was denied by the guard after seeing the punishment a fellow man had taken; they didn't trust him to let the opposing families leave the field alive.  
  
"What and the fuck is taking them so long?! They should have been back by now." A sharp knock on the door took him from his reverie and he threw the massive door open, breaking the top hinge as it flew. The two men he'd sent for his son, Turles and a fellow guard, stood on the stoop, heads bowed in respect but neither spoke. "Well?! Where is he?!" Bardock could feel his blood begin to burn in his stomach.  
  
"His body was not on in the field…" Bardock grasped the guard by the collar of his shirt and drug him into the house, holding him steadily two feet off of the floor.  
  
"And how does a dead man walk away?!" Bardock hissed, his eyes filling with hot tears of pain as he realized he had finally called his son a dead man.  
  
Turles entered, placing a hand on Bardock's shoulder, "Set him down, Bardock. There has been enough death." After Bardock set the man on his feet he turned back to his brother and waited for him to continue. "He wasn't in the field. It could be possible that someone else could have taken his body," As Bardock began to tremble in rage Turles quickly finished his sentence. "Possibly D.S. Your son is well known as a new coming elite, they could have taken him directly away from the field." Bardock nodded his head a sea of spikes nodding with him. He scratched his neck before ramming through the two men.  
  
"Let's go to D.S." The two nodded and followed. There was no sense in telling Bardock that D.S. was closed for the night, he wouldn't have listened anyway.   
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Morning found Radditz sitting at the kitchen table of the small house, his shirt was removed and he was slowly unwrapping his broken ribs. The swelling had gone down lightly after being wrapped overnight, but the ugly bruises still pulsed with pain after each little movement.  
  
A small clay jar sat in front of him; from it wafted a stench that would wilt a bush in less than three minutes. He dug two fingers into the jar, pulling out a mound of a thick black substance that looked like warm tar. He rubbed the ball of muck between his palms, warming it and smoothing it out before gingerly applying it to his ribs in as well an even coating as he could manage.   
  
Nappa thumped into the kitchen, stretching and yawning and gagged as the stench reached his nostrils. Clasping a large hand over his face he looked oddly at Radditz and spoke with small gasps, "What the 'ell is that?"  
  
Radditz grinned and pulled another blob from the jar and smeared it across his midsection. "Something my father taught me. It doesn't have a name really, made of plants, herbs and other little things from the forest. You seem to have them in abundance in the thin forest around your house." He rubbed the paste over the last section of ribs and closed the jar, rubbing his hands together and began picking off the little balls of paste that remained in his palms.  
  
Nappa sat in a chair across the table and held his nose while picking up the jar in his free hand. He cautiously put a finger in and pulled it out, rubbing the paste between his finger and thumb. He looked at his fingers in amazement as the paste began to harden and numb the skin of his fingertips. He looked at Radditz in shock then back to his fingers.  
  
"Neat little thing isn't it? It reeks to the Gods but works better than anything I've ever seen."   
  
Nappa nodded and removed his hand from his nose and began picking at the hardened paste with a thick thumbnail. "It won't come off!" Looking alarmed, Nappa began to dig at the paste with violent thrusts of his arms and proceeded to dig out a knife from a nearby drawer.  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute. It'll come off easy enough. You don't have to do cut off your thumb." Radditz laughed, got up from the table and walked into his room. He came out with a small corked bottle and walked over to Nappa. "Here, try this." Radditz pulled the cork out with his teeth and let a drop spill into Nappa's open palm. "Now work that into that paste and it'll come off faster than a woman's panties on her wedding night." He winked at Nappa as he began to wipe away the paste like it was mud.   
  
"Now…tha's something." Nappa looked at his fingers in awe. "What does that stuff do 'zactly?"  
  
"When it hardens it's like wearing a thin plate of armor, makes it hard to move but that's the point. You put it on broken bones or sprains that are hard to splint, those ingredients in combination make a natural pain reliever, it'll keep whatever it's on numb for at least a day even after it's dried."  
  
Nappa nodded and looked at his fingertips again. The silence broken as Lunna came into the kitchen and grasped her face, "Good 'eavens…wha' the 'ell is that?!" Nappa laughed as his wife made for the door and slammed it behind her.  
  
"Best open some windows and let this place air out 'afore she kicks us out." Nappa stood from his chair and heaved open the large window over the table and motioned for Radditz to open the door.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
The prince woke shivering and covered in a light film of morning dew. The sun was peaking over the tops of the trees and cast early morning shadows across the gully where he lay. He sat up and scratched his head cursing and wondering how he'd gotten to this place then remembered the scene from last night and his fight with sanity. Vegeta thought for a moment, chin resting in his palm. _It's probably best if I stay away at least one more day, then father will have a chance to calm himself._ He smirked as he envisioned his father pacing the halls and throwing guards into the walls. His stomach growled and he stood, bound for some place with food and a warm bath. 


	5. Chapter Five

Bardock sat at the small table in the corner of the kitchen. He'd sat there all night in a half daze; he couldn't sleep and drove Kakkarot half insane with his mumbling and pacing. He chose to sit and think and let Kakkarot get some sleep, he still had one son's good will to look out for. Scenes of the night's events kept replaying in his mind, he knew it was all true and there was nothing he could have done to change any events but it hurt his heart all the same.  
  
Kakkarot crept into the kitchen, leaning into the archway and rubbed the sleep from one eye as he watched his father staring at the walls. He had thought of ways to help his father, and himself, overcome the loss of Radditz. He thought of blood battle, but those didn't count in times of war, it was strictly forbidden. It was the way of war to lose men, and to fight countless enemies for an uncertain death of a loved one was foolish. The only thing to bring them solace now was to find his body, and then they could bury him properly with the rights and honors of a man of war.  
  
Kakkarot walked to the table and drew a chair to sit in across from his father. He said nothing, only waiting to be acknowledged when his father finally broke of his thoughts. He sat in silence for nearly an hour, watching his father's every twitch and listening to every sigh or grunt when he finally noticed his son sitting across from him.  
  
"How long have you been watching me?" Bardock rubbed his jaw and stretched his neck feeling several satisfying pops.  
  
"Only an hour." Kakkarot's stomach rumbled, "Well due for breakfast I think." He grinned at his father who tried to smile back but faltered and didn't bother to try again. "Come on, lets go hunting. Then you can finally kill something and I can eat." Kakkarot stood and grasped his father by the arm. Bardock looked up into his son's face, a mirror reflection of his own and gave him a weary smile before following him into the forest.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
  
As Nappa's family worked in the garden, Radditz had gone to his room and packed what few things he had. All in all it was a pair of clean clothes Nappa had given him, the jar of tar and the bottle of remover, and what was left of his tattered uniform. Lunna had cleaned it the best she could but the ragged clothing wasn't long left for this world as the stitches slowly let go and shreds of cloth fell off without warning. Radditz had decided he would no longer stay here, it had been only a day and a half but he wasn't some homeless bum, he had a father and brother who were probably fuming with bloodlust by now. He grinned as he thought of them, how they looked identical and yet their personalities clashed. He shook his head to clear away the thought and walked out of the small house into bright early noon sunshine.  
  
"Ready to leave are ya?" Lunna stood from a row of peas and wiped her hands on her skirts. Radditz nodded. "Well, ya canno' leave without taking some food." She smiled and turned to face the far end of the garden where Nappa and Bite were wrestling on the ground over the last turnip, Radditz could hear Bite shriek and giggle as he father feigned to lose and started to chase him down the row. Radditz watched in awe of how the big man was so gentle with the wiry young boy, he tried to imagine what he was like with their eldest son but a pang of guilt hurt his heart and he tried not to think about it.  
  
"Bite!" Lunna's soft voice reached the young boys ears and he turned to face her with a big grin on his face. "Go on and git tha' basket for me over there." She pointed to the corner of the field where a medium sized basket overflowed with food. Bite nodded and turned to get it when Nappa put a large hand over his face and smirked saying 'Tha's a man's job…not for you boy.' And began running at the basket with Bite clinging to one leg and beating at his father the entire way.  
  
"They're both jus' chil'ren." Lunna smiled and watched them the love in her eyes made Radditz smile too as he watched Nappa stumble and fall leaving Bite to retrieve the basket. "Now you two stop yer foolin'! Don't you spill nothin' outa tha' basket or I'll whoop ya both!" Lunna called, Nappa grinned huge and replied with a booming 'yes, ma'am' and Bite triumphantly carried the basket down the field and set it at Radditz' feet.  
  
"There, now you take tha' with you and when you finally git home you tell yer father to come fer a visit some time." Radditz nodded and hugged the small fragile woman quickly and grasped Nappa by the forearm and shook it.  
  
"I appreciate what you've done for me, I'll be back one day." Bite grinned and Radditz ruffled his hair with one meaty paw.  
  
As he left the gate outside the house, the little family was watching him go and waved before reluctantly returning back to the work at hand. Radditz sighed as he heard a shriek from Bite and a roar from Nappa as he chased him back up the field. He missed the days when he was young, and he missed his family more than he could ever remember before.  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
  
Vegeta had wound his way through the forest and came to a roadside that split into two directions. After looking carefully at his options he chose the more traveled path, walking at a steady pace and shaking leaves and twigs from his hair. He felt better about the recent events. He tried not to lie to himself to feel better, but he accepted what he couldn't change and fumed that his father wouldn't let him change it.   
  
The air had grown steadily warmer as the sun rose to noon strength, the smell of flowers, fruits and earth strong and heady. Vegeta took a deep breath and sighed contentedly, _Maybe this was all I needed. _ He snatched a low hanging fruit from a tree as he walked by, slicing open the soft skin with his teeth and sucking on the juices before taking the first bite. Sweet ambrosia ran across his taste buds, the soft fruit was appealing and in two minutes was devoured to the pit. Vegeta licked his lips where light trails of sugar had dried, and snatched another from a nearby tree and looked at its reddish-brown skin before taking a large bite. As he chewed the taste diminished with a bitter aftertaste. As he took a second bite a sour explosion dried his mouth and he coughed, suddenly dizzy he leaned on a tree and looked at the fruit in his hand as his eyes fuzzed over and he collapsed.  
  
  
~"Vegeta, keep your guard up boy. No, dammit!" King Vegeta cuffed his son in the head sending him sprawling into the far corner of the training arena. As Vegeta stood and grumbled to himself his father walked toward him, a look of disgust on his face. "When will you ever learn? A man needs to take care of himself, you think there will be guards watching out for you all the time? You need to focus." Vegeta looked at his feet, a flush of anger rising in his cheeks as his father's discouraging words rattled him. "This is why you can't be a good king." The last words snapped him to attention and stung as though his father had backhanded him across the face.  
  
King Vegeta turned and walked away. Vegeta watched him leave, slow haggard breaths ripped from his chest as he clenched his fists and clamped his eyes shut. He began to growl, inaudible to even sayajin ears at first but it grew and the bass shook the walls of the arena. King Vegeta turned in the doorway and watched as his son fell to his knees in the silted sand and screamed until just hearing it made his own vocal chords raw. He began to walk toward his son, whether to pummel him or solace him he wasn't sure, when a flicker caught his attention. He shook his head and watched his son again, there it was, a golden flicker. "Father!" King Vegeta's eyes widened as his son looked up, his eyes now cornflower blue with flickering spikes of gold running through his upswept hair. He stood, chest puffed out and a glowing aura pulsating the air, "Nothing is ever good enough for you is it?" His voice dropped an octave as the aura strengthened, sand flying in plumes and hair a rippling gold. "Not even a son who can turn super sayajin?!" King Vegeta's eyes bulged as Vegeta stalked toward him, tail flicking out behind him. "I am the alpha male!"  
  
A quick blur and Vegeta gasped for air, the aura faded and his hair fell forward back to its ebony luster. King Vegeta gave another firm tug on Vegeta's tail, hearing a yelp as the boy collapsed to the sand unconscious. "Impressive...but not quite good enough, ne Vegeta?"~  
  
  
A strong slap brought Vegeta from his sleep, the harsh glare of noon sun burning into his eyes. He struggled to sit in the ditch where he had fallen, a strong hand clasped his shoulder and helped heave him from the ground. Vegeta spun, intent on berating the person for helping him up when he hadn't needed it, but his head said different as it spun on. He pushed his fingers into his temples trying to stop the reeling when a soft yet strong voice murmured, "Put a hand on the tree behind you and spread your feet apart a bit…it'll bring the earth back into focus." Carefully Vegeta reached for the tree behind him and felt the rough texture of bark under his palm before widening his stance. Within seconds the spinning slowed and the world came back to a stand still.  
  
Vegeta blinked several times, unsure whether to let go of the tree or not when the voice from beside him spoke again with a hint of humor, "It's alright. You can let go now." Vegeta looked toward the voice and was eye level with a broad chest. Looking up he saw sharp features on a roughed up but handsome face a deep cut running across one cheekbone and thick black hair pulled back and tied at the nape of his neck. Cautiously he let go of the tree and stepped back onto the roadway, looking back at the sun he knew he had been out for nearly three hours.  
  
"Are you alright to walk or do you need a few more minutes?" Vegeta looked at the large man, the corner of his mouth pulled up into a light smirk.   
  
"Hnnn…" Vegeta stepped forward on the pathway, a small grunt of acceptance from the man behind him before he followed. "Who are you anyway, some sort of savior? Or do you enjoy running around the woods and slapping people while they sleep?"  
  
A low rumble of laughter was suppressed behind him, Vegeta turned and looked at the man, arms across his chest in normal defensive posture. The man shifted a heavy loaded basket from one hand to the other and eyed Vegeta carefully before answering. "I am Radditz and I am certainly no savior."  
  
Squinting up at him, Vegeta grunted in response. "So you just slap around napping people then?"  
  
Radditz small smile fell, pulling his lips tight across his teeth he set his jaw and scowled down at the small man. "No."  
  
Vegeta smirked, he enjoyed getting a rise out of this mammoth. "Then what is your excuse for waking me?"  
  
"I thought you were in trouble." Radditz' scowl deepened and he curled up the corner of his lip into a minute snarl just showing a sharp k-nine.  
  
Vegeta snorted, "You thought I was in trouble…how noble of you." He turned and began to walk the pathway again. The once soft voice grew hard with a steely edge when it called to him.  
  
"At least I know the difference between a mango and a jakata fruit." Vegeta stopped in his tracks and turned again, this time the man had plucked two pieces of fruit from the low bows and tossed them to Vegeta. Catching them with ease he studied the two, both looked very similar only one had a slightly darker skin and a rougher exterior. "The one in your left hand is a mango, the one in your right is a jakata. You had half a jakata in your hand when I woke you, you're lucky to be alive."   
  
Vegeta squeezed the pieces until they split and fell to pulp and then resumed a steady pace on the trail. Several minutes had passed before he noticed that Radditz was following him. "What do you want? Waiting for me to thank you?" Vegeta called over his shoulder without slowing.  
  
"Hardly," Radditz voice again was soft and strong, "I'm going to the city, and this is the only path that leads into it."  
  
Speeding up his pace, Vegeta's tail lashed behind him as he thought of days past, for some odd reason he couldn't seem to stop thinking of that last scene of battle when the faceless man fell to the ground. 


	6. Chapter Six

Bardock sat on his haunches, a chunk of meat clutched in his hand and tail wrapped around his youngest sons bicep. After catching a buck and flaying it, the two had sat to consume their meal but Bardock's mind wouldn't allow him to enjoy it knowing that had Radditz been in on the kill there wouldn't be anything left for them to take home. Kakkarot had understood his fathers need for solace and comfort, when he had unconsciously wrapped his tail around his arm he remembered back to when he was a child and he would do the same as he sang him to sleep or told stories. On those times Kakkarot would wrap his own tail around his brother's arm or leg as they fell asleep, they were each other's security blanket. Now as his father sought to remember better times, Kakkarot's heart grew heavy at the need to wrap his own appendage around his brother who was no longer there.  
  
Kakkarot sighed and looked at the half eaten meat in front of him, he had no appetite anymore and set the chunk back down with the rest of the kill. Licking the juices from his fingers, he watched his father chew slowly on his food and could almost feel the depressing thoughts he saw etched on his fathers face.  
  
"Father…" Bardock blinked slowly and looked at his son's face, "Are we sure Radditz is dead?" Sitting up straight, Bardock took his tail away from his son's arm and rewound it across his waist.   
  
"What kind of foolish question is that?" Color rose in Bardock's cheeks and he ripped a large hunk of meat with his teeth.  
  
"I keep trying to feel his loss, but I can't." Kakkarot looked at his lap then back to his father. "There is no hole. When mom died I could feel it, this huge piece of me had fallen out. But when I feel for Radditz there is no hole…I mean there is something but it's more like being lonely…do you understand what I'm saying?"  
  
Bardock shook his head but chewed thoughtfully on the beef in his mouth. "I don't really know. The only way to put this to rest is to find your brother's body and send him off properly."  
  
Kakkarot nodded and ran a hand through his mussed up hair stopping to scratch the back of his head.  
  
"Don't think about it anymore. Go home and clean up, you have duty in a couple hours." Kakkarot nodded again and stood ready to head out, Bardock stood and put a calloused hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze before he took off through the line of trees.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The trip seemed terribly long, even though the afternoon sun made the day the most beautiful for months on Vegetasei. Radditz tried to stay angry at the smaller man that walked in front of him but couldn't help but smile when he watched him walk a pace slower than jogging just to keep away. The trip had been a silent one, Radditz walked comfortably in the silence, not really wanting to share the details of why he was here just in case the man happened to be violent about the war. But he never spoke either, though Radditz caught him muttering to himself on several occasions.  
  
A marker in the road told him that he was nearly halfway to the city. Satisfied he had made good time, Radditz looked around him and found a rather large stump of tree. Setting the basket on top he sat among the needles and ferns and began to set rummage through the basket. The small man had stopped, noticing that Radditz had gone, and turned back looking at the food Radditz was handling. Radditz watched as the man seemed to salivate as he removed hunks of ham and bread from the basket, _I must remember to thank Lunna one day for such a feast. _   
  
"Are you hungry?"  
  
Vegeta came to with a start and looked at the man whose eyes shone with merriment at the drooling prince. "What's it matter to you?" Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and stood in the middle of the road.  
  
Radditz rolled his eyes, "There's no need to get defensive, you might as well come get something to eat there's still plenty of walking to do." Vegeta took a hesitant step forward. "You could always guess among the fruit if you'd like." Radditz didn't try to hide his laughter and motioned for the blushing Vegeta to sit across from him.  
  
Vegeta was angry, but his hunger got the better of him and he sat heavily into the grass as Radditz portioned out food into two piles. Vegeta waited for Radditz to tear into his own meal before carefully chewing on a piece of meat. "Why do you walk so stiffly?" Vegeta chewed a mouthful of food and watched Radditz while waiting for his answer.  
  
Radditz leaned against a tree and took another large bite of ham before answering, "I have a couple broken ribs. I've applied a paste over them that hardens."   
  
Vegeta nodded, "Yes, yes I know about it." Vegeta crossed his arms and swallowed. Radditz was taken slightly aback; _The only people that really know about that trick are people from the royal guard… _ Radditz shrugged it off and grasped a small loaf of bread from the pile and ripped it in half. He offered the better half to Vegeta who graciously took it.  
  
"What is your name anyway?" Radditz said around a mouthful of chewed dough.  
  
Vegeta thought quickly, "What difference does it make? We'll be parting company soon enough anyway." Radditz held up his hands in mock defense and nodded. They had nearly polished off the basket when Radditz began to pack up what was left and started on the trail again. Vegeta wiped the seat of his pants and quickly fell into step, this time beside Radditz. "Thank you."  
  
Radditz looked down at him as they walked and only nodded, he had a feeling that meant a lot coming from the small man. _This guy seems awful high and mighty… must be an elite from the look. He's small but he looks hella strong, if he is an elite I wouldn't mind tangling with him when I get back…might be fun. _ Radditz smirked and the man beside him glanced up at him with a scowl.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Vegeta growled.  
  
Radditz smirked again, "You." Vegeta's cheeks tinted pink lightly as he looked at his feet. Radditz looked back to the road and changed the subject. "We're nearly to the city. Shouldn't take an hour now." Vegeta nodded in deep thought, tail twitching behind him.  
  
Radditz sighed, apparently the conversation was over again. 


	7. Chapter Seven

"You know the drill, Kakkarot. Get to it!" The guardsman's voice boomed across the arena, everyone but Kakkarot shivered. He had been late to guard duty, again, and the punishment was always the same. He was a thrash dummy for the newbies.  
  
Stalking forward, he came to a stop in the center of the field and grunted. The guardsman nodded, "Don't kill anyone this time would you?" Kakkarot gave him a quick wink.  
  
"Yes, sir!"  
  
"Good," the guard turned to the gawking troops behind him. "Fall in! Let's go, let's go!" Kakkarot grinned ferally as the first victim was thrown at him, the young boy jerked his shoulders back and tried to look menacing.  
  
With a shrill yell he lunged at Kakkarot, arms flailing. Kakkarot had to keep from laughing as he punched the boy once soundly in the stomach. Gasping, the boy fell to his knees in the sand.  
  
Kakkarot snapped back to attention. "Next!" Though this wasn't much of a punishment for him anymore, Kakkarot always found he was glad he wasn't a trainer for the new troops. He now understood where his uncle got all of his energy. Dealing with foolish youth was an around the clock job.  
  
Most of the afternoon consisted of troops charging at him one at a time, the monotony was almost too much. Not one had landed a blow, and Kakkarot wasn't satisfied. "There isn't one man among you boys!" A hiss of anger rippled through the group in front of him. He grinned, "You don't think so?" In unison the men replied with a sharp 'no, sir!' "Then where are they?" Kakkarot put a hand to his eyes and feigned to look across their masses for a man.  
  
A soft voice to his left pierced through the clamor of the troops. Turning he saw a short young woman with short, soft spikes of hair. "I'm a man, sir."  
  
Kakkarot laughed, "You're a man?"  
  
Dark eyes, bordered by spikes, narrowed. "According to your standards of a man, sir. Yes I am, sir."  
  
Kakkarot straightened, "All right then. If you can hit me, you can all leave early." A roar of approval ran through the crowd and the short woman took a wide stance in preparation. "That's a good way to get knocked down."  
  
A subtle grunt was his only reply as they were circled by troops. A growl, seemingly too deep to have come from the girl, ripped from her throat and it was on. She lunged swinging her fists in an arc, both easily blocked by Kakkarot. "You'll have to do better than that."  
  
A fortitude of kicks and punches flew, she was much faster than most of the men here, but not that fast. After about five minutes of blocking all of her attempts Kakkarot swung a fist, catching her in the jaw and sending her flying through the assembled crowd. She landed hard on her back and lay still. The group moved away as Kakkarot came forward, bending on one knee to see if she was alive. He pushed his face over hers, feeling light breath tickling his face. As he sighed in relief, a clenched fist flew like lightening and caught him in the mouth.  
  
A cacophony of cheers filled the arena as Kakkarot sat on his ass and touched his busted lips gingerly with his fingertips. Soft footsteps stopped in front of him and a hand extended to him. He looked up at the woman in front of him now smiling like a Cheshire cat. Taking her offered hand, she helped him to his feet.  
  
"You're quite a fighter. You're going to do well in the academy."  
  
Squaring her shoulders she replied, "Thank you, sir."  
  
"What's your name, cadet?"  
  
A sly grin cam to her lips. "Mann, sir. Cherise Mann."  
  
Kakkarot laughed, "Good job, Mann." He turned to the troops behind him and shrugged. "Dismissed!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
King Vegeta paced the throne room, emissaries were kneeling in submission and respect as he raved. "Well if he's missing, go find the brat! Damn that boy to hell! If he thinks he can get what he wants by running off, he can damn well think again!"  
  
The door of the room opened and Bardock walked quietly forward. "Bardock! It's about time!" King Vegeta turned his fury on the elite. Bardock still stood, not even blinking. "What the hell have you been doing all morning? I've sent emissaries to retrieve you but you weren't anywhere to be seen!"  
  
Bardock cleared his throat. "I was hunting with my youngest son."  
  
King Vegeta's eyes narrowed, "And what the hell were you hunting for?!"  
  
"We needed some bonding time after learning of Radditz' death."  
  
King Vegeta's face softened and he sat motioning Bardock forward. "Forgive an angry King his ramblings. I am sorry for your loss, but I can't help to worry for my own son.  
  
Bardock scratched his head in confusion, "Sire?"  
  
"He's run off." King Vegeta sighed. "I made him angry and he took off like a bat out of hell. I would like you to help search for him."  
  
Bardock nodded. "Of course."  
  
"Your youngest son, Kakkarot, could he help search for Vegeta?"  
  
"No, sire. Neither of my son's have been at the palace long enough to know what he looks like. Though he looks much like his father and has his temper." Bardock grinned.  
  
"Aye, he does." King Vegeta turned to the men still on the floor and spat, "Well??? Go on and find him! And bring him back intact so I can tear him to pieces."  
  
Bardock stood and nodded stepping toward the door.  
  
"Bardock."  
  
He turned and nodded to the king, "Sire?"  
  
"How did we manage to have children? How did _you_ manage to raise two boys of your own when I can't control one?"  
  
Bardock grinned, "Your guess is as good as mine." 


	8. Chapter Eight

The smells of the city met them before the sight. Radditz had taken the lead the closer they'd gotten, eager to get some food, rest and travel home. He'd thought often of his father and brother on the quiet trip. He looked forward to training with his father and sparring with Kakkarot. As he walked, he began to hum a tune his father had sung many times after a hunt when they would huddle and wrap their tails around each other and feel the heartbeats of their family (small though it may be).  
  
Vegeta had looked at him oddly as he smiled and laughed to himself out of the blue as he remembered the days past. He had tried to explain he was thinking of his family but Radditz had gotten the feeling his traveling companion hadn't a happy home.  
  
The city was bustling when they arrived. Smells of cooking meats, brass and mud. Radditz stopped at a street corner and slapped the small man on the back. "Well, it seems this is where we part, ne?"  
  
The solid body beside him grunted before walking away. Radditz shrugged and headed for a small shop across the street with a sign in the window that said, "Beer". The place was small and musty, poorly lit and full of rouges but it was just the way he liked it. He set his basket and small bag on the floor by his stool and pounded the countertop. A greasy man, less than four feet tall and bald as a cue ball waddled over and asked him what he wanted. Without even looking, Radditz pointed to a bottle along a shelf of bottles and the greasy man set him up a shot.  
  
Slamming his drink he motioned for another and turned to look at the others in the bar. It wasn't very full, only a few regulars at a corner table and a few lonely strangers that sat at least two seats away from everyone else. He pounded the second shot and paid with some change, picked up his things and headed back to the street. A small hotel sat amongst the shops, the place more like a rent-a-room at a bed and breakfast than a business. The family was gracious enough to let him have whatever room he'd wanted, Radditz had chosen the smallest that was also closest to the door.  
  
"Where's the best place to eat around here?" He asked a small mousy woman, he assumed was the wife of the man he'd rented the room from.  
  
"Jus' across the street. Serves the best stake I've ever tasted." Radditz looked at the bony woman and smiled, if she had ever eaten a stake in her life he would have been surprised. He thanked her and walked across the street yet again and entered heaven.  
  
The restaurant was warm from the use of the ovens; it smelled of baking bread and stewing meat. He sat at small table in the back and could feel drool puddle in his mouth. The place was quite busy for such a small place, there were men and women packed around every table, sometimes no room for anyone to walk between chairs. The room rippled with light chatter and laughter, it felt homey but Radditz preferred the dank tavern. A too skinny waitress stopped at his table and smiled down at him, her makeup applied thickly. Eyelids pasted with blue and rouge two shades too dark for her skin tone. "What'll ya have?" She said with a wink.  
  
Radditz looked at the specials on a sidewall, "I'll take that second one.sounds good." He grinned and gave her a wink back as she walked, swaying her tail and giggling. Radditz leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs and resting his feet in the chair across from him. _I wonder how that guy made out. Hmmm, the way he looks, I bet he's pretty good at it too. _ Radditz shook his head, _Where the hell did that come from?? _ Before he could really think about the waitress had returned with a mug of beer.  
  
"There ya are. Any thing else I can get for you while you wait?" She smiled and giggled again.  
  
Radditz set he feet back on the ground and took a long draw from his drink before looking back at her, "Naw, I think I'm set for now." The woman pouted slightly and walked away. He watched her go and took another draught from his brew when a man burst through the window and landed on a table amidst food and screams. Radditz leapt to his feet, knocking his own table over and adding to the mess.  
  
Running out into the street he saw a huddle of men advancing in a ring around somebody, all of them shouting orders to each other and talking to the person between them.  
  
"Just take it easy._Watch him! _ Now come on.you have to come home, your father is worried. _Geezus look out! _" A sharp blow of ki burst through the ring, knocking several men on their asses and those it had been directed at were airborne. Radditz shielded his eyes from the blaze and ran forward, clutching his fists together as one and brought them down hard on the neck of one of the unsuspecting men. He crumpled and the attention of the other harassers turned to the hefty warrior who shook his hair from its light ponytail into a mane of ebony spikes that swept at his knees.  
  
Radditz' voice boomed, "This is just what I've been missing, bring it on!" The circle of men forgot their captor and rushed Radditz as he sidestepped swinging fists and feet. Quick jabbing punches to one's face, sharp heavy blows to another's chest, and sweeping kicks and small ki blasts and the fight was over. Men lay scattered, moaning in pain and carefully picking their busted and broken bodies from the ground. Each took off in flight as Radditz howled and charged them as they stood.  
  
"Good show." A low voice came from behind him. As Radditz turned he saw the man he had traveled with scraped up slightly and smirking. "Not that I needed your help."  
  
Snorting Radditz looked down at him, "Who said I was helping you?" The other's smile fell and he crossed his arms over his chest. Radditz scuffed his feet, "What did they want with you anyway? Are you running from something?" Vegeta didn't answer, only turned his back and began to walk away.  
  
"Fine, but if they come back.and I'm sure they will.I won't be here to save your ass next time." Radditz grinned as he saw the man tense and turn, face flushed with anger and mouth twitching.  
  
"I need no man's help, least of all a low class baka like you." He had uncrossed his arms and shook in rage. "I don't need to prove anything to you, father. Nothing!" A quick blur and Radditz was on his back in the mud, lungs screaming for air, and the small man pinning his arms high above his head. Radditz broken ribs screamed and he hitched in slow breaths and looked up at the crazed man still straddling his chest.  
  
"Do you realize you called me your father?" The man blinked and released Radditz from his bonds. He turned away and crossed his arms again, looking at his feet. "I know you don't I? Or at least I should." Radditz sat in the muck and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His eyes opened in realization, "You.but." Radditz pushed up on knee at Vegeta's feet. "Forgive me, Ouji. I didn't know."  
  
Vegeta looked down at him and growled, "Get up you fool before someone sees you." Radditz rose to his feet, thoroughly confused.  
  
"Why are you running, Ouji sama? Is there trouble home?" Radditz began to fidget, a nervousness making him restless.  
  
"There's nothing wrong you fool. Stand still people are starting to stare." Vegeta cuffed him. Radditz stood still, though one foot was still tapping and his tail twitched.  
  
"Well, you can't stay here. For whatever reason you're away, they know you're here now." Radditz looked down at Vegeta. Vegeta nodded slowly. "Come with me, Ouji." Grasping Vegeta by the arm, Radditz hauled him to the sidewalk and up into the little house where he was to stay. Vegeta struggled against him but the vice grip wouldn't loose itself. Radditz stuff his few items into a small sack, restocked his basket and hauled Vegeta back outside.  
  
"Where are you going? Let go of me!" Vegeta huffed, being drug down the sidewalk. Townspeople gawked from their windows and Vegeta finally stopped struggling and walked in pace beside his captor.  
  
"We'll camp in the woods overnight, but we need to get far away first."  
  
"What do you mean, 'we'?"  
  
Radditz grinned, "Well, since I pummeled half of those guys they're going to be looking for me too. And if I'm not with you they'll rip me apart." Vegeta released a deep sigh and trudged along side, the city lights now far behind them and the woods around them thickening. 


	9. Chapter Nine

Bardock had returned home to grab a few essentials before leaving to trace the prince. Upon opening the door the most delicious smells met his nostrils. He seemed to float into the kitchen, saliva building at the corners of his mouth. Standing at the stove was Kakkarot clad only in loose workout pants and cooking a mass of vitals. Bardock talked around a mouth full of spit, "What are you doing home...and what are you cooking?" Kakkarot turned and gave a lopsided grin.  
  
"Hey dad. Well, I got done early today so I thought I'd fix us up some lunch." He turned back to the stove top and stirred a pot. "Hungry?"   
  
Bardock moved beside his son and looked down into the mess of frypans and pots. He stuck his finger into one and quickly licked it clean as the heat burned his fingerpad. "Mmmm....I'd love to but I've got go." Bardock grabbed a slab of meat from the mornings kill that had been stewed and took a large bite. He looked at Kakkarot with an appreciative smile, "Why don't you ever cook like this when I can stay and eat some of it?"  
  
Kakkarot laughed. "Well this way _I_ can actually eat some of it." Kakkarot removed a pan from the fire and scraped it into a plate. Bardock had taken another chunk of meat and moved into the other room to grab what he initially came for. "You want me to pack you something before you leave?" Kakkarot called.  
  
"That'd be great." Bardock walked back through the kitchen, pulling a uniform down over his head. Smoothing out the wrinkles with one hand he grasped another handful of food with the other. "But hurry up, I need to get going."  
  
Kakkarot laughed and pulled a skin from the cupboard and filled it with meats, potatoes and bread. He tossed it to his father who had to hold a ham leg in his teeth to catch it. He nodded and said a muffled goodbye as he blew through the door. "Bye!" When the door shut, Kakkarot turned back to the stove and removed the last pan from the heat. He set two plates on the table and a pitcher of bloodwine. "You can come out now, he's gone and the foods done."  
  
A door from the farside of the house clicked open and shut softly. A light patter of bare feet grew closer and a small frame stood in the doorway of the kitchen. Cherise Mann let her eyes sweep over the guard she'd decked earlier, taking her time and savoring the sight of taught tan flesh. Kakkarot looked up from the table and grinned, "Well...aren't you hungry?" Cherise smirked and walked to the table, setting herself lightly in one of the large oak chairs. Kakkarot watched her and leaned forward, brushing a stray spike from her eyes. Suddenly the door flew open and Kakkarot jumped in front of Cherise, staring at his father who now stalked back into the house.  
  
"Uh...forget something dad?" Kakkarot shifted uncomfortably. Bardock moved quickly into the next room, allowing Kakkarot a moment to breath.  
  
"Yea...do you know where... nevermind found it!" Bardock came back to the kitchen, beaming and holding an elite badge that he clipped to his blood red sash. Kakkarot returned the smile weakly as his father waved and walked back out of the house. Breathing a sigh of relief he turned to Cherise who had shrunk into the chair slightly. They both started to laugh when a clearing throat snapped them to attention.  
  
Bardock stood in the doorway with his hands on his hips, looking from Kakkarot to Cherise.   
  
Kakkarot scratched the back of his head and began to stammer, "Uh...dad I can...uh...explain..." Bardock moved forward and stopped in front of Cherise. The woman's mouth went dry but she refused to look away from the stare. Bardock drew himself up.  
  
"I have one thing to tell you both..." Kakkarot held his breath. "...the roast is a little dry." He winked at Cherise who breathed an inaudible sigh and slapped his son on the back as his booming laughter filled the kitchen and slowly disipated as he left.  
  
"Well...that was...different." Cherise took a deep breath and let it out slow. Kakkarot nodded and plopped into a chair. "Uh...Kakkarot?" The change in her tone made Kakkarot look up. Her eyes smoldered and she licked her lower lip slowly. Kakkarot watched that tongue and grinned.  
  
"Yea?" His voice grown husky.  
  
She leaned close, her breath tickling his ear. "Your pan is on fire." Kakkarot blinked and turned. Jumping from the table with a light shriek he slammed a cover over the small grease fire bubbling on the stove. Cherise clutched her stomach in laughter as Kakkarot ran to the door and flung the grease onto the walkway, the fire now out.   
  
Dragging his feet as he came back in, Kakkarot sat in the chair and rested his head in his hands. He groaned lightly shook his head, dark spikes bouncing slightly. Cherise had calmed and wiped a tear from her eye. She put a hand on Kakkarot's arm and smiled when he looked up. "It's okay. It's not every day you sucker punch some guy who then offers to make you dinner. Let alone putting on a fantastic floor show." Kakkarot growled and leapt from the table leering at Cherise. The table wobbled and the chair flew backward onto the floor. Cherise let out a light squeak as Kakkarot jumped at her, knocking them both to the floor. He leaned over her, hair falling slightly in his face and grinned as he pinned her arms abover her head. "Dinner is going to get cold..." She reminded him.  
  
He laughed low in his throat and licked his lips. "That's okay. I'll just start another fire." With a knowing smile she giggled wondering just how hot the flames would get.  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
Vegeta never would have guessed it would get so cold after such a beautiful day. But after the sun set, the temperature dropped steadily and he found himself shivering in a thicket with the brute that called himself Radditz. They had walked for most of the afternoon and into early evening before walking into the trees and finding a resting place for the night. Even though Vegeta wanted to rattle the man for making him come out in the middle of no where to sleep cramped in the cold for another night, he knew that if he'd stayed in the town the best of the elites would surely come looking and he wouldn't be able to stay away for one last day in peace.  
  
Radditz had been quite busy, he'd removed branches from low conifers and made a light nest that cushioned the hard ground. The better of the two going of course to Vegeta. He made a low fire, but refused to let Vegeta make it any bigger for fear of being spotted. So here he sat, the prince of all sayajins, shivering not a foot away from a miniscule fire with the company of a brute. As he grumbled to himself, Vegeta heard a light rustling from the bushel bed close by and looked to see Radditz painstakingly attempting to remove his shirt. Vegeta watched in transfixion as the large man curled lightly one way and then another, almost like a cobra in a death dance. Radditz stopped abruptly and took a panting breath before trying to remove the shirt again. Vegeta became confused, not fully understanding what this man's problem was when the shirt finally inched its way up high enough to show the dried dark brown of shield muck. Grunting, Vegeta got to his feet and strode behind Radditz and grasped the shirt by the bottom and gently pulled it over the mans barrel chest. Radditz sighed deeply as his struggle ended and thanked Vegeta several times as he pulled the shirt the rest of the way off more easily.  
  
"Thank you, Vegeta." Radditz sighed, the confines of the snug shirt finally removed. He pulled a corked bottle from the bottom of the basket he had carried with him and removed the cork with his teeth. Vegeta took his seat by the fire again and looked over the flames as the man poured a trickle of liquid into his palm and carefully began working it over his ribs. The muck seemed to ball up and fall off in patches, with each piece that dropped, Radditz seemed to both relax and tense. Radditz poured a little more into the opposite hand and worked it into the ribs on his right and across his abs. Vegeta watched his hand move in slow circles across his damaged, chisled flesh and heard the small sighs and grunts as Radditz worked away. A light flush came to Vegeta's face and he looked away, leaning into his nest and crossing his arms across his chest. His hands shook lightly as he moved them and he clamped them under his elbows.  
  
With a contented sigh, Radditz nestled himself in the brush and put his hands behind his head. He looked at the stars and stretched his long legs, unaware of the stollen glances from across the fire. "Vegeta..." Vegeta jumped, thinking he was caught and began to blush feverishly. "Why are you running away? You've got an easy enough life...you don't have to scrape from the bottom and pummel your way up the ladder."   
  
Vegeta frowned, "Not that it's any of your business...but it isn't all tinsel and glitter at the top." Radditz sat up slowly with a light groan.  
  
"Don't stop there...how is it so hard?"  
  
"You have no idea what it's like, trying to describe it to someone as low as you would be a waste of my time!" Vegeta sniffed, turning slightly away. A light rustle and a gutteral grunt, and a body eminating heat was sitting close by his side.   
  
"Look, Vegeta. Not everyone is against you. So you've got problems home or just in your life...everyone does. It doesn't give you a right to be bitchy." Radditz pulled his hair across one shoulder and finger combed the ends as he spoke.  
  
Vegeta turned eyes to him, watching him finger comb his hair without realizing he was. "I've watched people die."  
  
Radditz snorted and gave him a funny look. "So what? I've watched hundreds of men die. Hell, I've killed hundreds."  
  
Vegeta squinted at him, his frown deepening. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I've been in the Royal Guard since I was old enough to walk. I learned to fist fight when I was six and to control ki when I was seven. Just recently I took a test for the elite, but the war got in the way." Vegeta's eyes widened slightly and he uncrossed his arms and sat up. "Ouji?" Vegeta reached out a trembling hand. Radditz began to shy away.  
  
"No." Vegeta whispered. He twined his fingers in the thick heavy spikes of hair and carefully stroked them. This time with a stronger voice, "Kneel." Radditz looked at him dumbfounded.  
  
"Wha-?"  
  
"I said, _kneel_." Radditz didn't question further but rose to one knee and placed a fist over his chest. Vegeta took a sharp breath and gently pushed the unruly hair into Radditz face. Radditz didn't move, could harldy even breath as his ribs ached and his mind could barely register that the prince was stroking his hair. "You..." Radditz lifted his head and looked questioningly up at Vegeta. Radditz hair tumbled lightly to the left, Vegeta saw the deep laceration running along his cheekbone and ran a thumb across it slowly. Radditz shivered slightly and felt goosebumps rise on his flesh. "You were dead..."  
  
Radditz shook his head slightly, Vegeta's hand still lightly cupping his cheek. "No...never dead."  
  
"I watched you fall. You were dead. Bleeding and broken...you were the last man standing." Radditz thought back to the end of the battle and remembered kneeling to the crest of the Royals before he lost consciousness.  
  
"Not dead...unconscious. I was the only survivor..." Radditz voice trailed as he saw pictures of the boy Natha flash in his mind. Vegeta let his hand drop to his side and sat again in the brush nest. Radditz stayed knealt for some time, thinking and unmoving.  
  
Vegeta watched him, his mind reeling with possibilities. Finally the wheels slowed and he felt fatigue grasp his brain. "Radditz, it's time to sleep. There's quite the journey tomorrow." Radditz blinked several times and stood carefully. He nodded to Vegeta and walked to his own little nest, sitting gingerly and pulling his discarded shirt now covered in a light frost back over his head and gingerly down his sides.  
  
"Good night, Ouji sama." He lay back in the nest, pulling the tatters of his uniform over himself for warmth. There was no reply and Radditz looked over to see Vegeta curled around the dying fire and glowing embers, shivering. Crawling carefully across the frosted earth, he looked down at the beautiful man, sharp features pulled tight against the cold, eyes closed. Radditz drapped the remains of his uniform over the shivering form of his prince and sat close, the heat from his body slowly warming the other. Vegeta fell into a restless sleep of nightmares, Radditz sat watching him and clutching his arms around himself to retain some of his own body heat. So they stayed through the cold, the fire eventually died completely leaving Radditz to fend off chills and watch the sleeping Ouji who whimpered now and then in his sleep.  
  
As the morning sun began to thaw the thicket they rested in, Vegeta awoke to find a rough material smelling of deep musk draped over his shoulders and Radditz curled into as tight a ball he could manage and still remain sitting, completely asleep. He sat up slowly and took the material from around him, knowing at once what it was and lay it gently across Radditz knees. He watched Radditz a moment longer before standing and stretching.  
  
When Radditz awoke nearly twenty minutes later, he sat cold and alone. Vegeta had long since abandoned him. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Bardock was tired. He'd searched throughout the night, taking initiative from the information given to him by elites of a nearby town. Apparently Prince Vegeta could very well have been kidnapped from the stories and the bruised faces of his best men. Rubbing his eyes, Bardock took to the air and searched for any sign of Vegeta or his captor. All of the people he had talked to in the town were of no help. The best description of the man they got was from a tacky waitress in a mom and pop restaurant who claimed he was, "Tall, dark and handsome. And he smelled good too." Bardock had eyed her carefully and shivered when she smiled at him. No help.  
  
A flicker of light caught his eye and he landed some feet away from the spot careful to catch a glint again. When the morning sun had struck it again, Bardock had nearly stepped on it. Crouching he picked up a chunck of metal in his fingers. It was a medal from the Royal Guard, for a veteran warrior. Bardock looked at the medal with an appreciation, it took long hard work to earn one of these medals. He looked carefully at it, turning it over in his hands and sniffed the scrap of material still clung to the back. Another scent caught his attention however, and he turned toward the trees and breathed in deeply. The smell of ash and fire were in front of him and he quickly picked his way through to a clearing. It was deserted, a small charred pit where small fire had been lit and two beds of branches were the only signs that anyone had been there. Bardock walked to the small pit and kicked at the ash with his foot, there were still a few tiny embers flickering at the very bottom. It seemed that the campers hadn't left too long ago.  
  
A sharp snap to his left caught his attention and he quirked his ear to it before moving toward, checking for more noise. Another lighter pop from the same area came and in a blur he had the culpret by the cuff and grinned down on him. As Bardock realized who he was manhandling he let go and quickly appologized. Vegeta brushed off his chest with a sharp stroke and glared up at the elite.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Bardock?" Vegeta growled, crossing his arms and glancing now and then at the meadow.   
  
"What I was sent to do, Ouji. Your father is pissed." Bardock leaned against the tree, he had been guard of Vegeta for years and the two acted like old friends when they weren't meant to be professional.   
  
Vegeta grunted and turned toward the glen. "I was planning on going back today. I've done what I wanted."  
  
Bardock cocked an eyebrow, "And what was that?"  
  
"I wanted some time to gather a rebutle for his insane attitude. The man won't listen to a word I say, hell he still treats me like I'm a child...refuses to let me help with any issues." Vegeta fumed and punched a nearby tree, blowing it some fifty feet into the clearing.  
  
"And just what exactly ideas are you destroying trees for?" Bardock grinned.  
  
Vegeta frowned, "There doesn't need to be so much war. Or death. And I despise the idea that I have to stand by and watch my people suffer and die!"  
  
Bardock stepped forward and frowned with the Ouji, "What do you mean?"  
  
"I was forced to stand outside of the last battle, and watch them die. I could do nothing."   
  
Bardock's eyes brimmed and he looked away. With a gravely whisper he asked the one question that burned his mind, "You watched them all die?"  
  
Vegeta nodded then faced his friend, "At least I thought I had. But it appears that one of them is alive."   
  
Bardock grasped Vegeta by the shoulders and shook him lightly. "Who? Who is alive?"   
  
Vegeta pushed Bardocks hands from his shoulders and looked at him oddly. _If I tell him who it is, then he'll want to know how I know...then Radditz will get into trouble._ Vegeta puzzeled a few moments then looked directly at Bardock's face. "I don't know his name. I only met him in passing." Bardock's face fell and he nodded. Vegeta looked at him for a moment, unsure of what was wrong. "Come on then. Father will only wait so long." Bardock grinned slightly and the two took to the air, headed for the castle.  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
Radditz walked at a steady pace, the road home never felt so long. He had a mix of emotion coursing through his mind. Excitement of returning home, happiness and joy at seeing his family; and of course an ebbing point of dissappointment. After he had gathered his few things and began his treck earlier that morning, he had turned expecting to see Vegeta pop from behind a tree. Once he had seen a man asleep in a ditch under a tree and had a feeling of joy creep up his back but it faded when he saw it wasn't that Vegeta had eaten the wrong fruit again.  
  
A wagon, deeply loaded with barrels of grog and bloodwine roared past him with a thunder of hooves. Radditz had thrown himself at a nearby tree to escape a trampling. A high pitched voice cried out and the horses reared, coming to a sharp stop. A woman hopped down from the wagon seat and ran toward Radditz with a worried look on her face. Her hair was wiry and gray, tied in a loose bun at the nape of her neck. "Are you alright?" The woman's eyes were wide as she searched Radditz' face carefully.   
  
Grunting as he leapt down from the tree, Radditz gripped his whining ribs. "Yes I'm fine." The woman breathed a sigh of relief and hooked a thumb at his ribs with a questioning look. With a deep laugh Radditz shook his head, "That wasn't you. I'm just now healing up."  
  
"What are you doing on this road then?" She cocked her head to the left and looked up at him, small fists resting on her hips.  
  
"I'm headed to the city." Radditz' eyes took on a far away look. "I've been gone too long."  
  
With a high pitched giggle the woman nodded her head and slapped Radditz on the back. "Come on then. You might as well catch a ride with me."  
  
Radditz shook his head. "No, I wouldn't impose."  
  
"Nonsense." The woman motioned him to the wagon. "If you walk it'll take you the rest of the day to get to the city limits. If you hop on you can be home in bed long before the sun goes down." Radditz looked skeptical and the woman punched him playfully in the shoulder, "Come on. It's not like I could take advantage of a mammoth like you anyway." Nodding, Radditz smiled and half hopped half pulled himself into the seat next to the frail woman. "Alrighty, hang on now." WIth another sharp yelp from the woman, the horses whinied and took off like a bolt. Radditz gripped the side of the cart for a moment until he got steady in the seat. "You just relax, you'll be home in no time." The woman winked and Radditz grinned, wind pulling his thick hair out straight behind him.  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
"I thought maybe you would finally listen to me!" Vegeta's face was crimson.  
  
"By running off like a brat? What good does that do? Make you look more mature?!" King Vegeta snorted. "What makes you think that your oppinions are more valid now that you've acted like a child? Where and the hell have you been? Don't you know you can't just run off like that? What if someone had known who you were right off and used you as a weakness to get to me?" King Vegeta had been raving for a straight ten minutes. Vegeta was sitting, scowling as hard as his face would let him.  
  
"How would I be a weakness to you?" Vegeta shouted. Bardock flinched inwardly, Vegeta was playing with fire and right now wasn't the time.  
  
Suprisingly King Vegeta's face softened and he came to sit in front of his son. "Because you are my son. And whether you are willing to believe me or not, your well being is worth more to me than this kingdom ever could."  
  
Vegeta snorted, "Being your only heir, I can see your point." Bardock smacked himself in the forehead and looked at Vegeta from between his fingers.  
  
King Vegeta stood and shook with anger. "No, not because you're my only heir!" King Vegeta mumbled to himself and threw his hands around in inner fury. Finally he turned back and looked wearily at Bardock. "Thank you, Bardock, you can go home and rest now." Bardock nodded and walked quickly to the door. "Oh and Bardock," Bardock turned and looked at the king, "Let me know when your son's funeral will be, I would like to be there." Bardock's eyes welled but he blinked them away.  
  
"Of course, sire. We had planned on this evening though we have no body." King Vegeta nodded and gave Bardock a consoling smile.  
  
Vegeta turned to look at his father after Bardock had left, "Bardock's son is dead?" Kind Vegeta sighed and sat beside his son.  
  
"Aye, died in battle a few days ago. He cannot find his body." King Vegeta added, "Shame really."  
  
"I didn't know." Vegeta looked at his feet. Now he felt a great shame for leaving so suddenly and having Bardock torn from his mourning family.  
  
King Vegeta grunted. "I'm going to prepare an arrangement for this evening, we'll talk about this later." Vegeta stood.  
  
"I'd like to go."   
  
King Vegeta gave his son a funny look, "You've just returned from a joy leave, and now you want me to trust you to leave the castle?" Vegeta grasped his father by the shoulder and looked up at him. King Vegeta looked at his son a moment and nodded his head with a small sigh. "Very well."  
  
  
  
  
Vegeta sat in his chambers, leaning his head into one hand and looked at the city below him. _How could I be so selfish? To run off with my petty problems...God I probably watched Bardock's son die! And I didn't even know..._ Vegeta squeezed his hand into a tight fist and stood tall. He walked to a heavy oak desk and picked up an item and clenched it in his hand. He opened his fist and looked at it, it was a medal that had fallen from Radditz' tattered uniform as it was drapped across his shivering body. When he was about to leave he had noticed it in the grass and picked it up while looking at the man sleeping. He had decided to keep it to remind him of his plight with his father, when Radditz would return to the city he would give it back.  
  
Vegeta slammed the medal back onto the oak, embedding the small piece of metal some inches into the solid wood. "I've got to stop this insanity. Fix the flaws in this kingdom..." Vegeta threw himself over the arm of a large comfy chair, his tail twitching beside him. Vegeta grinned, realizing how alike he was acting before his flight. He looked over to the desk and saw the edge of the medal poking through the top. "I wonder where that baka is right now? I don't know why I didn't just take him back with me...it's not like he didn't make decent enough company. Hell, when he was quite it was rather enjoyable..." Vegeta trailed off, remembering watching Radditz as he had cleaned himself and shivering slightly as he heard those little gasps and sighs again.  
  
Shaking his head, Vegeta stood and walked to the bathroom. It was starting to dim outside and he needed to finish getting himself ready. _There is no time for this foolishness._ Vegeta started a steamy shower, hot enough to scald a normal saiyajin. He had taken to slowly increasing his resistance to the heat over some time, he always felt better after literally boiling away his problems.  
  
Stepping into the steams of intense heat; he sucked in a sharp breath, let it out slowly and looked at his arms as they turned a bright red. Nodding in approval he sudsed up his hair and dug his fingers roughly through the thick mess and stepped backward into the sizzling jet of water. He ran his fingers more slowly through it this time, rinsing away the suds and began to have flashback memories of the previous night. He had stroked Radditz' hair, ran his fingers through it much like he was his own hair now. If could turn any more red, Vegeta would have. He jerkingly stopped what he was doing and blinked several times, trying to clear away the thoughts. Finally they dwindled away and Vegeta quickly lathered himself and stepped face first into the stream. Leaning into the wall he let the hot water roll down his back and across the back of his thighs. Swishing his tail lazily through the stream he pressed his warm face to the cool marble and began to imagine Radditz' hands roaming as the water did. Vegeta grinned as he felt imaginary hands rub his shoulders and back, working their was down slowly and crossing to grate his stomach. Vegeta snapped away from the wall and shook his head violently. "Enough." Quickly turning off the water, Vegeta grasped a towel and stepped from the shower. It was the first time he'd ever left the bath feeling more dirty than when he'd entered. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Dusky rose began to tint the sky, Radditz leaned against a tree and sighed. The old woman turned out to be Sinesta, a well known brewer across Vegetasei. She had kept him in good company for four plus hours. Unfortunately, now they were no longer moving. Sinesta came from behind the wagon, wiping her hands on her flared pants and grinned up at Radditz. "Looks like I need a new wheel. Now I've got some good news and some bad news."  
  
Radditz pushed away from the tree, "And those would be?"  
  
"Well, the good news is, I never travel without a spare wheel." Radditz grinned and sighed in relief. "The bad news is, I can't get it on." Radditz groaned and walked around to the side of the cart. The wheel was in splinters, spokes broken into toothpicks. Neither of them was sure what had happened, but Radditz had a new appreciation for horses and the driving skills of Sinesta.  
  
"If I can hold up this side...could you change it yourself?" Radditz motioned to the cart. Sinesta let out a trademark shrill laugh.  
  
"Well sure, but that'd be the death of you and it'd take alot longer than if I just waltzed into town and got a jack."  
  
"What do you mean? If I hold up one side and you change it, how would that take longer than..." Radditz did some quick math in his head, "Five hours of walking into the city?"  
  
"Well son, after unloading all of this cargo and securing it, then having you pick up on that cart and me change that wheel, and THEN piling aaaaaaaall of that liquor back on the wagon...it could take until morning." Sinesta patted him on the back as he looked at the cart and it's heavy load.  
  
"Who said I had have it unloaded?" Radditz cocked an eyebrow and looked at the squirrely woman.  
  
"Easy now tiger, I'm not going to have your death on my conscious after you blow an artery and have an aneurism." Sinesta shook her head.  
  
"If I get that wheel set up for you and pick up this side, will you change the wheel?"  
  
"Honey, if you can do that and I can get that wheel on without you busting a nut, I'll give you half of what's on this wagon." Sinesta began to laugh again but stopped short.  
  
"I'll just take a flagon if you can get me home before the moon rises." Radditz had already pulled the new wheel from the side of the cart and set it against the cab. He squated slightly and grasped the bottom of the cart. Radditz closed his eyes and took a deep breath, let it out slowly and grinned at the woman whose eyes had grown large. "Well, are you ready?"  
  
Sinesta moved forward to Radditz side and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Now look boy, you don't need to be...oh my..." Sinesta's voice trailed off as she watched Radditz. Baring his teeth in a tight grimace, Radditz grunted as he heaved on the heavy weight at his back. The veins in his arms and legs began to protrude and Sinesta could almost see the blood slamming through his veins. The muscles in his thighs danced and his grunts came in short booming bursts. "Now, stop that..." Sinesta tried to reason with him when the cart began to squeak as the weight began to shift. The noise of reluctant release gave Radditz a renewed hope and he took a deep breath.  
  
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhggg..." A deep bass reverbrated the ground, the horses at the front of the cart shifted uncomfortably and began to whinny. "Aaaaahhhgggg..." Radditz squinted and ground his teeth together as he heaved with a strong determination. Flashes of his brother and father bounced across his vision and he felt a draw of energy from deep inside of himself let go. Sinesta watched him with a look of awe, the wheel was nearly off of the ground and Radditz didn't appear to be giving up. A flicker of light bit into the dampening night and Sinesta closed her eyes to the flash. As she looked again, light flickers of gold pulsed now and then around Radditz, and he was laughing.  
  
"Heheh...hurry...hehee..up." Sinesta looked to the wheel and gasped as she saw it some two feet off of the ground. Pulling the old tattered wheel from the axel, she rolled the other over and picked it up onto the shaft.  
  
"Okay, okay! Let it down!" Sinesta waved frantically and sighed in relief as Radditz slowly set the cart onto the ground. Radditz fell to his knees in the dirt and leaned heavily onto his arms as he gasped for breath. Sinesta hurried over and began to pat his back and rub it in slow motherly circles. "Good gods almighty! I have never, and I mean NEVER, seen anyone do ANYTHING like that EVER!" As his breath began to regulate Radditz stood up slowly and grinned at the short woman.  
  
"Are you ready then?" Sinesta looked at him slightly confused.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
Radditz laughed, "You've got half an hour to get me into town."  
  
Sinesta set her jaw and slapped Radditz on the back. "You best hop on up then, cause this wagon's leaving."  
  
Before Radditz could connect to the seat, Sinesta had the horses in a full blown stampede. The last fingers of light were pulling away from the offending dark and Radditz was itching to get home.  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
"Vegeta, if you're coming you'd best be down here in one minute!" King Vegeta boomed up the stairwell and paced the hall. He was nearly on the verge of being late to the services and if Vegeta was going to slow him down any further he would sooner leave him here. King Vegeta had chosen a respectful dress, nothing too flashy to set himself apart and take attention away from Bardock or his youngest son. He had chosen charcoal colored pants and a black top, a sash of blood red around his hips and a light decorative chest armor plate as was custom. Had he a choice of garb, he would have sooner gone in just his attire without the armor, but had he not he felt certain that Bardock would have taken offense. Turning back to the stairs he glowered and yelled up the curving marble slope, "VEGETA!"  
  
"Yes, I'm coming." Vegeta came down around the corner of polished marble and his father stepped back away from the stairs. Never had Kind Vegeta seen his son take more care in his appearance. Each ebony spike had its place, Vegeta had gone against his usual fashion and wore black pants that were snug at the thigh and more fluid at his calves, the cuffs falling onto hard polished boots. He wore a deep scarlet shirt, opened slightly at the neck and a black velvet cape pinned on one shoulder with the royal crest. Vegeta looked up oddly at his father, who still looked down on him with soft eyes. "What is it?" Vegeta ran a hand across his shirt and pants checking for imperfection.  
  
"I have never seen you so grown up before, Vegeta. I can't help but wonder when your maturity caught up with you." Vegeta scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, the edge of his cape creeping across them. King Vegeta shook his head. "And then I wonder, how I managed to miss it." King Vegeta clapped his son on the back and grinned down at him. "Come on then, we're pressed for time."  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
Bardock sat beside the pile of logs that were intricately placed atop a small hill. He looked down onto the gatherings of people at it's base and stood stretching his spine. It seemed that most of the city had managed to shy away from responsibility to come to bid Radditz goodbye. Bardock had felt a pride of sorts at the amount of people here, but also felt a disgust that many of them had never known Radditz and were here only to take advantage of Bardock's grief. Kakkarot trotted up the hill toward his father. He wore a navy shirt over white pants, his black sash of royal service tied from his left shoulder and knoted above his right hip. "Father, King Vegeta has just arrived. He wants to speak to you a bit before we begin." Bardock nodded and grasped his youngest son into a bear hug.  
  
"Tonight will be hard for both of us, but we will honor your brother's memory. Is that understood?" Bardock spoke into his son's neck as he felt a hot tear run down his son's face.  
  
"Aye, sir." Kakkarot's voice was gravely but he managed to pull away and salute his father. Kakkarot watched as his father was swallowed up in the crowd below and turned to lay a hand on the pile of wood behind him. "Brother, I refuse to say goodbye to you. I only hope you can forgive me of this when we meet in later years." Kakkarot removed a piece of bark from the log under his hand and watched it as the wind made it ripple and dance. Grasping a piece of charcoal from the ground, Kakkarot etched his brother's name across it's smooth white surface. He folded it carefully and placed it in his pocket. Sighing with deep sorrow, he walked down the hillside and greeted more people whose faces he never recognized.  
  
  
  
"Sire, I am pleased you came." Bardock nodded his head in respect.   
  
"How could I not? You are a faithful man that I've placed my trust in over the years. I could never repay the debt I owe you. I only pray the gods let you grieve peacefully." King Vegeta smiled in sympathy down at Bardock. Kakkarot came to stand beside his father and bowed deeply to King Vegeta and then again as he recognized the symbol of royalty upon Vegeta's shoulder.  
  
"Kakkarot, this is my son, Vegeta. Vegeta, this is Bardock's youngest son." King Vegeta stepped to the side and allowed Vegeta to pay his own respects to Bardock and Kakkarot. "You know Bardock, one of my deepest regrets is that our sons have never truely met."  
  
Bardock looked at his feet. "It was for the better. I would never allow my sons to believe they were allowed free access to the royal house. They have grown up well and strong and I would not ask for anything more." King Vegeta nodded and regarded his son as he looked across the crowd.   
  
"I can't exactly say the same for me. Vegeta has grown up true and proud, I am thankful that he is so strong willed. But, I fear sometimes that I sheltered him too long to the ways outside of the royal house." Bardock looked at him questioningly. "It's taken him a lot longer to fight against me and my ways then it did me when I rebelled against my father."  
  
Bardock laughed, "My lord, that can only mean that you are too well of a father and too less of a king. You worry for your son more than I ever worried for my own. I know that you listen to him, but you refuse to let him know. You are a good king, sire. But you are a better father." King Vegeta looked thoughtful for a moment.  
  
"That is probably one of the best compliments I have ever gotten." King Vegeta smiled a large toothy smile. "But I did always have help now and then." Bardock bowed his head and looked to his son who was talking lightly to the woman he had seen in his kitchen two days ago.  
  
"Excuse me for a moment, sire." Bardock walked away as King Vegeta placed a hand on his sons shoulder and looked out amongst the crowd and began to converse with the others that had gathered.  
  
"Kakkarot." Bardock stopped in front of his son and looked from him to the woman at his left.   
  
"Dad, this is Cherise." Kakkarot gestured to the woman who extended her hand. Bardock shook it and was pleased with the firm grip she had.  
  
"Sir, I am sorry for your loss." Cherise looked up at him and he could see why his son had taken to her. She was small and compact, wearing a long black skirt and black shirt. Her spikey hair was pulled away from her face with pins and her high cheekbones accented her dark eyes well. On top of her looks she was respectful and strong.  
  
"Thank you."   
  
"If there is something I can do for your family that is within my power, I gladly offer my help." Cherise kept his gaze for a moment longer before looking to Kakkarot to make sure he had heard her offer as well.  
  
"That's very generous of you. But I'll let Kakkarot handle that." Cherise nodded and took her leave. "Kakkarot, we're going to start soon." Kakkarot noded and followed his father to the top of the hill.  
  
  
  
Vegeta stood beside his father at the front of the crowd as they looked up at Bardock and his son as they announced their beginning. Vegeta had only gone to one service in his lifetime, and he was too young then to remember the details. He looked up at his father as a number of people formed a line and walked up the hill to place items at the base of the pile of wood. King Vegeta waited until the last of them had come back down before walking steadily up the hill. Bardock and Kakkarot shook his hand and stood at either side of the pile as King Vegeta turned to the crowd and held a medallion for all of them to see before setting it atop the wood. Vegeta looked at it and recognized it as the symbol of the elite. His father was honoring Bardock's son in a way that few others would ever be. It was rare to be awarded elite after death, but in actuality he had been alive when it was all said and done he was just too late.  
  
As his father stepped to his side, Kakkarot moved down the hill and stood next to Vegeta. Vegeta could feel the tall man shake slightly as a rage of emotions ate him from the inside. Bardock removed a flask of wine from his pocket and doused the wood pile with its contents and flung a match into the center. The wood snapped and crackled as it was engulfed in flames. Bardock moved away from the fire but stood atop the hill and watched it as it burnt. Vegeta turned slightly as he saw the youngest boy had fallen to his knees and feared he had fainted when he saw that he was bowed in respect to his brother's burning grave. Vegeta looked at the pile of wood and then up to his his father who looked back at him. Vegeta dropped to one knee and bowed toward the fire and felt surprise from Kakkarot who still knelt beside him. King Vegeta smiled down on his son a moment before kneeling. A light murmur rippled through the crowd as one by one the members knelt to the burning fire. Bardock stood atop the hill and watched in awe as the mass of people all settled in respect to his son. When the last men dropped to a knee, Bardock could contain himself no longer and dropped to his knee beside the fire and wept. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

The smell in the city was different somehow. Radditz wasn't sure why, but the place seemed deserted. Sinesta had gotten to the city in less than twenty minutes and now Radditz walked happily through the streets anxious to get home. As he rounded a corner, he saw the flickerings of a funeral being finished. _That's what the smell was...burning popal and wine._ Hurrying home, Radditz changed as quickly as he could into a fresh uniform and transferred his medals to the fresh sash. Radditz grunted as he noticed two were missing but paid them no more heed as he went to see who's funeral the entire town had turned up for.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Cherise wandered through the mess and gathered the remaining items at the top of the fire that had survived. Bardock asked her to bring the items to the castle at the gathering and give them to Kakkarot. She had graciously agreed, struck by the trust the man had instilled in her after one meeting. She smiled slightly, _Even if nothing comes of this 'relationship' we seem to have, I hope we can work well together._ Kneeling in the ashes she ran her fingers through the cooling embers and retrieved the elite medal that looked the same as when it was placed on the wood. Fingering the shining metal she placed it in her pocket, careful that she wouldn't lose it. Footsteps fell behind her and she stood and turned.   
  
"Sorry to startle you," a deep soft voice eminated from a large warrior now in front of her. The man looked around, "It appears I'm too late, ne?" Cherise nodded, a little awestruck at how elegant and powerful he seemed to be. The man pulled a clip from his pocket and pulled his large mass of hair from his face and clipped it at the nape of his neck. "I don't mean to keep you from your gathering, but whose funeral was this?"  
  
Cherise knealt again and took a deep sigh, "The son of Bardock."  
  
The large man took a step back and gasped, "Wha-- what do you mean...'the son of Bardock'?" Cherise looked up oddly at him for a moment then realized that the man must have served with him.  
  
"Yes, I hear he was quite a man. Bardock asked me to gather these things for him. I'm on my way to the castle shortly if you want to wait."  
  
The man seemed to quiver and his eyes shone in the moonlight, "No...thank you. I'll go on my own." Cherise nodded, his voice was a little too calm, _Apparently he was good friends with Kakkarot's brother._ She watched him walk slowly down the hill and then craned her neck to see as he suddenly began running.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Radditz couldn't believe it. _Kakkarot is dead? He has to be...if it was my funeral father would have Kakkarot gather, or Turles even...but I don't know who that woman is...unless she was Kakkarot's before he died._ Radditz mind raced and his heart felt heavy as he thought of his brother dying while he associated with the Prince instead of hurrying home.  
  
"Forgive me Kakkarot, but your foolish brother is home now and I'll make it up to you somehow."  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Vegeta leaned on a balcony and watched as the people poured into the great hall. He thought it funny how through the entire funeral he hadn't heard one man speak Bardock's son's name. Vegeta felt guilty, but his pride wouldn't allow him to ask anyone. The last of the dawdelers were coming through the gates and he sighed. "I wonder where that baka Radditz is right now?" Though he had tried, and though he knew it was inappropriate for a funeral, Vegeta couldn't help but think of the ox.  
  
Then as if on cue, Vegeta swore he saw the man run through the gates at full tilt and wearing a fresh uniform. Surprised, Vegeta ran through the balcony doors and nearly stumbled down the stairs. _This is not the time! Lord don't let him be looking to throttle me for leaving him._ As he reached the doorway, Vegeta barreled through and threw the man into a side wall, pushing him slightly up it. "I will not let you ruin this funeral!"   
  
Radditz' eyes were wide as he was caught of guard, he grasped his captor by the wrist and looked down onto Vegeta. "Put me down you fool!" Vegeta set him on the ground but kept his hands around his throat. "What are you doing?"  
  
Vegeta glared up at him, "I will not allow you to hurt this man's family more than I already have!" Radditz gave him a quizzical look and was about to ask him what the hell he was talking about when a deep voice from the doorway boomed.  
  
"What is going on here?!" Bardock glared daggers and looked at the two men that were disrupting his son's wake. As his mind registered who they were, his jaw dropped. "Impossible..."  
  
Vegeta let go of Radditz' throat and began to stammer appologies to Bardock when he ran past him and gripped Radditz in a bone crushing hug. "What the hell?" Vegeta looked between the two of them, thoroughly confused.  
  
When Bardock pulled away his face was streaming tears and Radditz was whipping them away with the palm of his hand. Vegeta felt a pang of jealousy but kept his mouth closed. "I am so sorry, if I'd known I would have been home sooner." Radditz voice was gravely as he bit his tongue to keep his own tears from spilling. Bardock shook his head and clutched at him again, making sure in his mind that his son was alive in front of him. Radditz grunted and Bardock pulled away worried. "Just a couple broken ribs, nothing to worry about, father."  
  
Vegeta's head reeled, "Father?!" The two never heard him as Kakkarot came through the door and Radditz face paled before Kakkarot jumped upon him and nearly tumbled them to the floor.  
  
"Radditz, you're alive?! I knew it! I told you!" Kakkarot clapped his brother on the back and beamed at his father. "We'd better tell someone about this!" Radditz looked at his brother in grave disbelief and shook his head. Kakkarot looked down at himself and scratched the back of his head, "What is it?"  
  
"I thought you were dead..." Radditz said, Kakkarot's face fell for a moment before he began to laugh.  
  
"Well that's alright, I thought you were for the past three days." Radditz grinned before his face fell into confusion again. "What now?" Kakkarot stepped toward his brother and looked up at him quizzically.  
  
"Well if it was my funeral...who was that gathering funeral items on the hill?"   
  
A small voice from behind them chimed, "That would be me." Cherise walked through the gates with an armful of items and looked between the four men standing together looking confused. Bardock helped her with her burden and set the items on a nearby table as Cherise held her hand to Radditz. "You're the man from a while ago right?" Radditz nodded.  
  
"I thought you told me my brother was killed!" Radditz fumed.   
  
"I did no such thing! I said the son of Bardock had died, I never said who." Cherise scowled and puffed out her neck slightly.  
  
Radditz thought for a moment and started to laugh. "What a mind game we've had for the past few days, ne?" Kakkarot laughed lightly and watched his brother carefully, scared he might dissappear before him.   
  
"What is going on out here? Bardock, the services are going to start...impossible!" King Vegeta stood in the doorway. "Your son?" He motioned to Radditz who nodded and bowed gracefully. "Well I'll be damned. Son, you have no idea how your dissappearence hurt your father, but I'm sure that it makes up for it seeing you alive here, now." Radditz looked to his brother and father and nodded solemnly. "Well now! If there is no funeral, then we'll have a ceremony...Cherise did you retrieve that medal from the ashes?" Cherise nodded and pulled it from her pocket. "Come on then boy, we've got a shock to tell the city!" King Vegeta turned and stalked through the doorway with Bardock and his family in tow. Vegeta stood in the entry way, his mind overflowing with what had just transpired. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. It seemed he was forgotten in the swirl of emotion. He waited for the noise of surprise to finish before he entered and stood at the back of the room to brood. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Radditz moved through the crowd, shaking hands and receiving hugs from people he'd never seen before. He spotted Kakkarot leaning against a wall talking to Cherise and decided he'd make up for lost time annoying his little brother. "Kakkarot, mind if I cut in?" Before Kakkarot could respond, Radditz had grabbed ahold of Cherise and waltzed her into a mob of dancing people.  
  
Vegeta watched from the corner, satisfied in his sulking stupor. Jovial laughter rang around him, music bouncing around the room, and couples dancing as far as his eyes could see. Unfortunately he could only keep his eye on one of them and he didn't like it. Caught now and then in the tide of twirling bodies, Radditz and Cherise could be seen in flashes, laughing and enjoying themselves. Vegeta watched them a moment longer before turning away in irritation._ Damn him. Who cares? So he's having a good time. He should be it's his "back from the dead" party isn't it?_ Grumbling, Vegeta stood and pushed his way through the crowd, most of them separating in respect but others not noticing until he had already shoved them from his path. Vegeta stomped up a small spiral case that led to a veranda to look down on the sea of people. He could see them again, twirling about. _For someone so large he's very graceful on his feet…_ Vegeta caught himself smirking and forced himself to watch others. _What's his name…Kakkarot doesn't look very happy._ It was true, Kakkarot had backed himself into a corner and was scowling so hard it looked like his eyebrows were trying to invade his eyes. _I would think he'd be happy to have his brother home alive… _ Vegeta thought for a moment before walking back the way he had come and picking his way to Radditz' little brother.  
  
"You don't look like you're enjoying yourself." Kakkarot jumped at the gravely voice beside him and shook his head.  
  
"I suppose I'm not." Kakkarot turned away slightly, pressing himself farther into the corner.  
  
Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, "And why not? You should be overjoyed that your brother is home alive."  
  
Kakkarot nodded slowly and turned to face the Ouji. "It's just that….I dunno…" Vegeta looked at him queerly for a moment before motioning to the balcony circling the room.   
  
"Follow me."  
  
"But, where are we going?" Kakkarot looked around slightly confused.  
  
"If we go to the balcony you can look at everyone and brood quietly." Kakkarot looked skeptical and Vegeta sighed. "Or you could lean over the side and drool on people, will that make you happy?"  
  
Kakkarot grinned broadly and enthusiastically followed Vegeta to the top of the stairwell. They stood in silence for awhile, Kakkarot staring intently at Radditz and Cherise while Vegeta did his best to ignore them. Kakkarot broke the silence with an exasperated sigh and began to shout over the noise from below. "I don't know why he has to do that."  
  
Vegeta tilted his head, "What?"  
  
Kakkarot pointed down into the crowd at his brother. "That! He always does that!"   
  
Vegeta shook his head and leaned closer, "No you fool, what did you say?"  
  
Kakkarot grinned sheepishly and began to vent his anger to Vegeta retelling stories from the past up through to Radditz waltzing off with Cherise. As he told his tale, Vegeta began to smirk at the patronizing that Radditz had given to his younger brother for all their years. The more Kakkarot spoke of him, the more Vegeta felt the knot in his stomach tighten as he watched Radditz dance across the floor. Vegeta fell out of focus, losing himself in his own thoughts but looked at Kakkarot and nodded just to appease the younger saiyajin.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Radditz led Cherise out of the ring, satisfied that he'd annoyed his brother long enough but couldn't seem to find him. Radditz looked carefully around the sea of faces and began to worry as he saw everyone but Kakkarot amongst the crowd. Cherise looked around as well and tapped Radditz on the shoulder as she spotted two figures along the balcony and pointed. Radditz squinted slightly and looked carefully at them. Beaming he recognized Kakkarot and he didn't appear too mad, in fact he looked like he was smiling.  
  
Cherise held a hand to her eyes and frowned, "Who's that up there with him?"  
  
Radditz looked again, flames flickered in his stomach and he glared up at the two. "Vegeta." The two were talking! And Vegeta was actually smiling and nodding. Radditz felt the hairs at the back of his neck prickle as he saw Kakkarot start to laugh. Radditz pushed through the crowd, Cherise in tow, as he headed for the nearest staircase.  
  
  
-----------  
a/n: I know this one is shorter than most of the others, but i'm trying to build up a good couple of chapters *wink wink* if you know what i mean.~Nnif -.- 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Vegeta sighed, _from the sounds of it, Radditz is a hard man to bag._ Kakkarot's voice droned on and Vegeta nearly found himself in a light slumber when a barking voice in his ear woke him with a start and enraged blood moved through his veins.  
  
"Kakkarot! What are you doing?" Radditz' eyes were aflame and he bore holes through his brother's head with their heated gaze.  
  
Kakkarot stepped back and held his hands in front of him in defense. "What are you talking about, Radditz? I'm not doing anything, just talking." Realizing his defensive posture he laid his arms to his sides and frowned. "Besides, you're the one who took off with my…my…" Cherise had come up the stairs and stood beside Radditz, a confused and almost lost look on her face.  
  
Radditz grinned at his brother's embarrassment, the anger he felt forgotten for a moment. "Your what?"  
  
Kakkarot's face flushed with color, "with… her." He stepped around Vegeta and grasped Cherise by the arm, dragging her away from his brother. Radditz made a move to tease Kakkarot further when a strong hand pushed on his chest. Radditz stumbled back in surprise and in force. Vegeta growled lightly and stepped in front of Kakkarot as he pulled Cherise closer to him.  
  
"Leave the boy alone."  
  
Radditz looked back and forth between his brother and Vegeta. _What the hell is going on here?! _ "Don't tell me what to do with my own family, Vegeta." Radditz eyes narrowed and an iron vice gripped his chest as he looked at the protectiveness the Ouji was giving to his brother.  
  
"Just do it." Vegeta stepped closer, glaring up at Radditz under heavy brows.  
  
Radditz growled, "Don't you dictate to me, you can barely stand your own family." The room had gone quiet, everyone was staring up at the balcony, an audible whisper rippled through the crowd.  
  
Vegeta shook with anger, his face growing a deep crimson to compete with the shade of his shirt. He grasped Radditz by the throat. "Don't you EVER talk to me that way! I am the prince god dammit! I could kill you with one hand and you won't come back alive next time!" Vegeta's rage ate him from the inside, inner organs feeling shredded. Vegeta let go and stalked halfway to the balcony exit when he turned to the gawking crowd. "What the fuck do you think you're looking at?!" The mass below fell uniformally into a submissive posture and waited for the wraith of Vegeta's furry to leave before they talked amongst themselves.  
  
Kakkarot stood against the wall, mouth agape as he watched Vegeta go and then looked to his brother. "What the hell was that all about?" Radditz didn't appear to hear him as he rubbed at his bruising neck and watched the empty doorway. "Radditz..." His brother turned, his eyes had softened and he looked as though his heart had been trodden. Kakkarot watched him another moment and then to Cherise who gazed at Radditz with a small knowing smile.  
  
"Kakkarot," She leaned close and whispered, "tell him to go." Kakkarot looked at her, still not understanding. "Go on...tell him." She motioned toward Radditz who still stood facing the door.   
  
Kakkarot stepped forward and thumped his brother on the back with the heal of his hand, "Go." Radditz blinked, looking carefully at his brother then to the doorway. He smiled slightly and bowed his head as he walked quickly to the door and dissappeared. Kakkarot watched his brother go in confusion. Cherise sighed, a faraway dreamy look on her face. "What's going on?" Kakkarot scratched the back of his head.  
  
Cherise giggled and slapped him playfully in the arm, "Come on you oaf. I wanna tango." Kakkarot followed after her slowly as she headed for the exit.   
  
"Cherise, they aren't playing the tango....where are you going?" Kakkarot stopped in the doorway and looked around him. A soft tail wrapped around his thigh and gave a demanding tug through the door. Kakkarot grinned, "Ooooh..."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Vegeta stalked around in his chambers, stamping his feet hard enough to shake the room but not break the marble he trode on. He was unhappy, in full rage even, but mostly he was crushed. How could Radditz throw back his personal problems in his face, and in front of the entire city! It was none of those idiots business what problems the royal family had. Vegeta stopped in front of his desk and looked hard at the medal that poked through the hard oak. He ran a finger along the edge and let himself lapse back into memory. How had he fallen for the man anyway? _Because he's strong, proud, carefree. Hell, he is an embodiment of what I've want to be. Tall, strong, a proud heritage, a caring father and a nonchalant disposition that makes him an ideal pray._ A clearing throat made him jump and the sharp edge of medal sluiced through his fingerpad.  
  
Radditz stood in the doorway, face slightly flushed and hair shaken about his face and shoulders. Vegeta looked at him from his distance, the scowl plastered on his face hiding the true admiration for the fighter's stature. "What do you want?" Vegeta's voice came more harshly than he had intended and Radditz twtiched slightly.  
  
"Ouji...I..." Radditz was cut off.  
  
"Because if you're here to berate me some more, I can go stand in the middle of the great hall and let you shout it to everyone." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest which was now heaving again with anger. Radditz face turned crimson and Vegeta waited for him to explode but he didn't. Instead, Radditz shut the door behind him and sat in front of it with his knees pulled to his chest. Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at him preparing to walk toward him when he stood and walked further into the room.  
  
"I'm sorry." Radditz' eyes regarded a wall tapestry, finding it hard to look at Vegeta. Vegeta turned to face him and snorted. At the sound Radditz looked at his feet and then forced himself to look at Vegeta. _Gods..._ A deep yearning pulled through Radditz as he watched Vegeta contemplate his mediocre apology. A small pout had forced its way through Vegeta's stern face, Radditz looked at that full lower lip and almost purred. He took a stepped toward Vegeta, the other watching him cooly before suddenly sucking in a sharp breath and looking at his fingers.  
  
Vegeta looked at his bleeding finger that had been forgotten temporarily, it now stung to high heaven and had bled into his palm. He stuck the angry digit into his mouth and frowned around it. A wafting smell of warm spiced cider enveloped him and he looked up to see Radditz gazing intently at his blood covered hand. Vegeta removed his finger from his mouth to make a snide comment when a calloused hand closed around his and could only watch as Radditz lifted the wounded finger to his face. "What are you..." Vegeta's question was cut off as Radditz pressed his lips firmly over the wound on his finger and lightly licked the split pad.   
  
Reluctantly Radditz removed the diget and licked Vegeta's palm clean, the rich tang of copper leaving his head feeling light and an insatiable hunger pitted in his stomach. Curling his large paw around Vegeta's he put the hand to his chest and looked again at Vegeta who appeared to be having trouble breathing. "Forgive me, Ouji."  
  
Vegeta resisted a contented sigh and scowled up at the man, though making no move to take back his hand. "Don't patronize me. I'm not your brother."  
  
The corner of Radditz' mouth curled and a sharp canine glistened, "That you are not." Vegeta grunted, then again in surprise as thick tail wound its way around his waist, pulling him closer.  
  
Vegeta put his free hand on Radditz' chest, "What do you think you're doing?" As he glared up into onyx eyes, they slitted and a warm mouth covered his own. Taken aback, Vegeta began to push away when a crafty tongue weaseled it's way into his mouth. It moved slow at first, carefully learning each contour of the now welcoming mouth, then more forcefully as the Ouji joined his own tongue into the action. The taste of his own blood on Radditz' lips made Vegeta's head spin slowly. The hand he intended to push him away with, now curled tightly into the uniform and pulled the mammoth down lower into a deeper kiss. A low moan moved through Radditz chest and was felt under the Ouji's fingers. Radditz pulled away, a little short of breath and looked at Vegeta's kiss swollen lips with a deep sated hunger.  
  
"How dare you...." Vegeta's voice was a deep husky whisper. Radditz heart raced and head reeled as he tried to find a proper excuse when Vegeta grasped either side of his face between warm palms. Vegeta gave a crooked smirk, "You were not told to stop."   
  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
  
a/n: Do you smell that?? smells like.... citrus?? Definite yaoi next chapter. don't abandon me yet. ~Nnif -.- 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Radditz grinned and bent, wrapping his arms around Vegeta's waist, he lifted him all the while resisting the urge to growl as the Ouji nipped at his collar bone. He moved across the room and set Vegeta down in the large cushioned chair, reluctantly pulling back from the prince's attentions. Unfortunately for Radditz' uniform, Vegeta would have none of it and ripped the material as it gave way under the assault. With a warning growl of protest, Radditz grinned and removed the tatters that was his uniform, ignoring the tinkling of numerous medals as they hit the marble flooring. Grasping the satiny red shirt, Radditz fingered the material appreciatively for a moment before pulling the collar low and dipped his tongue in the hollows of Vegeta's throat. A low purr rumbled below his lips and Radditz lifted his head and looked into half-lidded onyx eyes. Vegeta frowned at the lack of attention his now deprived neck felt, but was graced with downy cushions pressed to his bare flesh after Radditz pulled the velvet cape and ruby shirt over his head. Radditz lowered his head and traced the outlines of the Ouji's torso with his tongue, grinning at the grunts and sighs he got as reward for his effort. A strong hand gripped the back of his neck and pulled him into the chair. Radditz braced himself with the padded arms of the chair and hissed as warm lips nibbled at his ear. Between the nips and suckles Vegeta spoke, "What...am I...going to do....with you?"  
  
"What ever you want." Radditz gasped as warm fingers wrapped around his tail and slowly ruffled the hair backward. Taking advantage of the opened mouth, Vegeta plunged his tongue into the wetness and caressed the others tongue with his own. Radditz struggled to contain himself, the warm strong fingers flexing around his tail made him want to whimper. "Ahhh...," Vegeta grinned and nipped at Radditz lips as he succombed to his ministrations. "Vegeta..." Radditz pawed the Ouji onto his lap, pressing his compact body as close as he could to his own. The smaller saiyajin arched his back, pushing himself closer into his hold. _I can't believe this is happening..._ Radditz groaned as Vegeta's tail sneaked around his thigh and caressed the tightened muscles. Radditz slipped them both to the floor and pressed the Ouji's back to the cool marble as he redoubled his effort to please his prince.  
  
Heavy banging on the solid oak door shook them from their blissful haze, Radditz rose to his feet and crossed to the door with a red haze of anger crossing his eyes and a light flush of lust splayed across his skin in warm hues. Nearly braking the lock in his thickfingered hand he swung the door open wide and revealed his brother, standing in an uncommonly serious nature. Kakkarot glanced behind him, seeing the Ouji standing with arms crossed over his bare chest and Radditz tattered clothes strewn about his feet. "What is it Kakkarot?" Radditz growled.  
  
"You have to come right away." Kakkarot turned, expecting his brother to follow. When he heard no footfalls he turned back. "Radditz! Come!" Taken slightly aback by his brother's snippy words he growled.  
  
"Can't you see I'm busy?!"   
  
"Aye, and so was I," Kakkarot pulled the collar of his shirt down revealing several dozen love bites. Radditz looked at him queerly then slowly realized that his brother too was interupted during a personal interlude.  
  
A call from behind the door caught their attention as Vegeta began to get irritated, "What the hell is going on?"  
  
Kakkarot stepped forward, pushing by his brother and stepping into the room, he was quickly struck with the heavy musk of lust, _this is the last thing I need to smell right now._ Taking a quick breath he addressed both his brother and his new found lover. "We've gone back to war."  
  
Vegeta's usual placid face broke into a look of surprise. Radditz punched the oak door, bursting the top hinge and splintering a hole. "FUCK!!!" He turned to his brother, "Let's go." Kakkarot lead the way, ignoring the sound of his brother's abrupt stop and continued his way to the armoury. Vegeta had grasped Radditz shoulder and as Radditz looked down on him he saw his face contort into several mixed emotions before his usual visage took presidence.   
  
"Radditzu," Vegeta took a breath and tried to speak again but nothing came from his opened mouth. Radditz nodded his shaggy head and picked the Ouji into a crushing hug, covering the still kiss swollen lips with his own and set him gently back onto his feet. Radditz turned quickly and followed after his brother. Vegeta watched him go and then stared at the space where he had been after his rugged body dissappeared. Taking small shallow breaths, Vegeta could feel the angry tears building at the corners of his eyes and he grimaced daring them to fall. Curling his hands into fists they shook as he bellowed, the very foundations of the castle trembling beneath him.  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
Kakkarot and Radditz looked at each other at the gates, both fully dressed in combat armor as they clasped each others forearms. As the battalions called out for the troops to fall in, Radditz pulled his brother into a bruising hug only to be reminded of his still sore ribs. He grinned as they let each other go, but the smile was a sad one. As Radditz walked to his line he took the front with the rest of the elite and looked across the faces of mear boys and several girls. _They're all just children._ Surpressing a growl of disgust he ordered them to section off. As they marched from the castle walls to the new battle field he heard a thunderous howl and the falling of chunks of rubble. His smirk was sour as he understood what the howl meant, the new troops behind him glancing at each other in extreme tension and nervousness. 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

King Vegeta sat in the throne room, waiting impatiently for Vegeta to meet him. "Brat, if you have something so important to tell me you'd better get down here now!" The firm grip on his sanity was slowly being unwound. He hadn't expected the rebels to attack again, not so soon, and not after losing so many men. It had been a long struggle for the past five years, trying to keep his hold on Vegetasei in a useful grip that didn't smother the subjects with brutality, but it seemed that no matter what he did they weren't hapy, apparenlty his ideas were no longer working. King Vegeta ran a hand through his hair and sighed, he'd never felt so old. "Vegeta, there's a war on, if you want to dawdle meet me at the field!!" King Vegeta heaved his tall form from the chair, attendants immediately brought his battle garb and shouted orders to each other as the King made his way to the front gate.   
  
"Father wait!" Vegeta came to a skidding halt outside of the main doors, his hair was disheveled and his armor was strapped askew. King Vegeta turned and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm coming with you! This war is insane and it has to end!"   
  
King Vegeta snorted, "I'm not simple boy, all war needs to end on Vegetasei. But I suppose you know how to fix the mess your father has created?"  
  
"I do." King Vegeta arched an eyebrow and looked skeptically at his son. "Let's go, the war won't wait for us." The Ouji stepped around his father and lept to the air. The larger saiyajin watched him a moment and then spat onto the ground before following his son.  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
As soon as the troops arrived the battle was started. Screams of pain or anger, both indecipherable to the ears that heard them. Radditz moved fluidly through the crowds of fighting men until he met in the middle and a swarm of rebellious saiyajin lept at him. Breaking bones and jaws exquisetly slow, everything was a slow motion as blood spurted into his face and men fell at his feet. Radditz' eyes glazed over with battle lust as he grasped a man by his throat and squeezed his larynx shut as he held another man off bay with his flurry of feet. Throwing the man's lax body at a herd of unmoving new troops he growled his warning and watched as they jumped away from the dead man in shock. "Kill or be killed!" Radditz shook his thick mane and bellowed, the sound starting in the pit of his stomach and echoing across the vastness of the field. A chorus of cries followed and the energy in the air crackled as the intensity of the battle grew.  
  
One, two, five more men dead in the matter of seconds. There were so many more this time. Radditz pulled the blade from his back and licked the blade, a light cut trailing his blood down it's silvery edge. A recognizable voice at his side inquired, "What are you doing?" He spared a quick glance at its source. It was Cherise, who had her feet planted in the chest of a man and was pulling his arms from their sockets while he screamed.  
  
With a psychotic grin he answered as he plunged the blade through a charging warrior. "A blade needs to know what blood tastes like before it can make it run freely." Cherise grinned and then howled as a grazing dagger sliced through her arm. Turning in anger she beat the man to the ground and pulled his eyes from his sockets with her thumbs.   
  
The more expericenced fighters of the rebels noticed the duo holding their own in the center of the field and gathered themselves together and huddled in the forest to scheme.   
  
Now back to back, Cherise and Radditz danced around each other as they ripped through the rebels' front lines. "I'm sorry you were _interrupted_." Cherise grinned at Radditz' back as she pummelled a screaming woman to the ground.  
  
Radditz' booming laughter could be felt through her back, "Me too." He moved away for a moment, breaking a man's arm in two with a sharp tug and pulled a canteen from his waist band. After taking a heavy draught he tossed it behind him to Cherise's feet. "It's a pity you and Kakkarot were _interrupted_ as well. You could stand to mellow out."   
  
A sputtering of water and coughing at his back made him laugh again as he drove a fist through an enemies head. A sharp elbow in his ribs and he grunted at Cherise's effort to end his tirade. A signal from the elite at the back beckoned Cherise to them. As she spun around Radditz she looked up at him and flashed a toothy grin. "I already have."  
  
As she sped off through the crowd of warriors Radditz stared at the back of her head in surprise but was shaken to reality with a war cry in his ear. Spinning in a fury he drove his sword into the noisemaker and clamped his eyes shut as arterial bloud sputtered into them. Blinking the stinging away he looked down on the body still run through by his blade. Time slowed and he could hear his own heart beat heavily in his ears. He looked down into the face of a shocked boy, blood dripping from his trembling lips as he looked at the mammoth who had killed him. "...Radd..it..z?"   
  
Horror gripped Radditz' heart and he pulled the blade from the boys chest, laying him carefully on the ground, now feeling entirely detatched from the battle that surged around him. Cries muted and time stopped as he looked down on the small frail body. He placed a hand over the boys wound trying to keep the damning fluid from flowing out and felt heated tears eat at his eyes. A seering tear slid down his cheek and dripped onto the boys sunken face. "...Bite?" A small pale hand cupped his scarred cheek before it fell lifeless to the bloodied ground. A deep sob threatened to wrench his heart from his chest as he stood and dropped his bastard sword to the ground.  
  
Supressing the aching need to sit and clutch the broken boy to his chest, he threw his head back and emitted a gutteral wail that reverberated ethereal. All action stopped as thousands of heads turned to see what body could hold such a sorrowful note. Warriors released their death grips, wounds were forgotten, the air itself stilled with mounting anticipation and trees leaned away from the lament as the voice crackeled with emotion. As his breath ended, Radditz dropped to the ground on his knees and clutched his stomach. Grief and ardor brewed in his belly, he fisted the hair at his temples and yanked at it mercilessly as he fought to regain his senses. Rebels and elite alike strode carefully forward, not knowing what to make of the emotional outburst or what else the large warrior would do. A tight circle formed around them and they looked down upon the sobbing man, looking at each other questioningly.  
  
A commander pushed his way through the crowd and recognized Radditz as he knelt. "What the fuck is going on?" Radditz stood slowly and faced his superior officer.  
  
"I've killed this--boy." Radditz barely contained a sob as he ground the heels of his hands into his eyes to stop their magma heated flow.  
  
The officer looked incredulous at Radditz and then to the boy that lay dead on the ground. "Do you want a fucking medal or something? Pick up your sword and kill another one of the fucks! That's what you're here for!" As the man screeched he leaned closer to Radditz' face.  
  
All emotion ran out of Radditz like water off of a frogs back. He could feel his heart pool at his feet and then rise with a striking force into his chest as he glared ice into the commander's narrowed eyes. The commander stepped back in shock at the bloodlust he saw there and felt his blood freeze in his veins as his sensitive ears barely heard Radditz' reply. "Yes, sir." 


	17. Chapter Seventeen

When Vegeta neared the field, it was uncharacteristically quiet and his nerves began to rattle. "What the hell is going on?" Stopping over the mass of men below him, he scanned the sea of shaggy heads. Not one of them was moving and they all formed concentric circles around two men. Flying in lower, Vegeta noticed that one man was being strangled...one of the royal commanders. Anger coursed through him as he saw that none of the others were helping, nor fighting the rebels. Landing with enough force to break the ground he roared out to them, "What the fuck are you doing?" Eyes broke away from the two men and rested on their Ouji, the elite all fell into curtious submission as well as several of the rebels, the rest knelt half-heartedly and looked again to the two men clasped together. Thoroughly irritated, Vegeta pushed his way through the crowd, knocking over warriors left and right as he went. He stopped before the two men and growled. The commanders eyes pleaded with the Ouji for help, the other was biting his own lip, a bright red trail dripping from his chin, and growling in low menacing tones while his hands flexed around the commander's throat. Stalking forward, Vegeta grasped the man's arm and pulled back quickly as the pure look of hatred radiated at him from his lover's face.  
  
  
  
"Radditz!" Vegeta regained his composure and ignored the swelling pressure his heart was creating in his chest as Radditz' eyes remained lifeless. The commander gurgled and Vegeta stepped toward Radditz again. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Vegeta resisted the urge to pull it back as Radditz' snarled again, he whispered, "Radditzu..."   
  
Radditz face slowly softened at his name curling lightly off his lover's tongue.  
  
"Let him go..." Vegeta put his free hand on Radditz' wrist and squeezed gently. Radditz' grip slowly relaxed and the commander fell to his hands and knees to the soiled ground gasping for breath. Radditz turned to Vegeta, his eyes still glazed and lifeless.  
  
The commander slowly got to his wobbling legs and pointed a shaking finger at Radditz, "It's mutany! He's against the crown! He should be killed!" Vegeta's eyes flashed and he bounced a wall of energy at the man and knocked him to his ass in the muck.  
  
"Shut up! You're lucky I didn't let him kill you!" Vegeta snapped. Turning back to Radditz he followed his gaze to a boy laying cold in the black mud. Radditz knelt beside the boy and put a hand over the gapping wound in his frail chest. A thud of landing feet sounded behind him, Vegeta turned to see his father looked oddly amongst the men all looking at Radditz and one boy.  
  
"What's going on?" King Vegeta looked around himself and then to his son. "Was this your doing?" Vegeta glowered at him and shook his head then looked back to Radditz now cradling the boys head in his lap. King Vegeta put a warm palm to his son's shoulder and nodded to the sea of men. "Then this is a good time to tell everyone your thoughts about this war."  
  
Vegeta nodded to his father then ran a loving hand through Radditz thick hair. Radditz looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears that fell freely down his hardened face. Vegeta shivered, that look was worse than the lifeless eyes he had seen moments before. Floating some ten feet into the air he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the men below him. "Listen up you wastes! This endless warring is useless. The only thing that you rebels are accomplishing is getting yourselves killed." A growl rippled through the crowd. "Shut up! Look around you, those aren't men you are fighting with, they are boys! Most of your balls haven't even dropped yet!" Another growl moved through, this one smaller and less menacing than the last as the realization of truth hit them. "I can't say I understand where you are coming from because I don't. But you haven't voiced yourself. Speak the FUCK UP! We are all saiyajin here, this planet is ours alone. We shouldn't fight amongst ourselves, we are NOT each other's enemy!" Agreement and barks of attonement grew.  
  
"One day I'll be ruler of this planet, and gods help you if you don't listen to me now. I can make things hard for you, harder than you could imagine. No way will things ever be easy. Times have NEVER been easy for anyone! Even the king." King Vegeta looked up at his son in shock. "I've watched you father. A proud and noble saiyajin. With every one of you that fights with your brothers and sisters, you kill your king a little each time. It's enough already! We have a common enemy, and it isn't between us. The Icejin and every other godforsaken race out there is watching us, waiting for us to weaken ourselves so they can take this planet out from under our feet. If you think times are hard now my friend, then the gods help you when you're mining on some planet billions of miles from your families and the ones that you love."   
  
As Vegeta looked over the crowd he saw many looking at their feet in shame. Others were braking off into little groups and holding each other tightly. He was slowly getting through. "We need a strong bond, a mutual understanding of one another. Strong subjects make a strong king. Look around you, have you ever seen more thickskinned, thickskulled, weathered warriors in your life? NO! Why? Because you survive together against the Icejin, you help each other when it 'counts'. I ask you this, when did things stop counting?"   
  
A murmur moved quietly through the mass below him. Vegeta looked down to his father, the King was smiling warmly up at him, a look of affection glowing in his eyes. Radditz stood looking up at Vegeta and placed his fist high in the air for everyone to see. He knelt before the Ouji and quickly after the entire ocean of men had knelt as well. Vegeta looked upon them, slightly awestruck at how quickly the tides had turned in his favor. _All they ever wanted was someone to tell them what they already knew, just to prove that someone was watching._  
  
*~*~*~*~  
  
As Radditz knelt, he felt a swell in his heart that threatened to break his chest. Vegeta had gotten through to all of them, rough words or not, and maybe he could fix things and make Vegetasei into the proud warrior race it always had been. As he turned his face upward to see his lover, a sharp spike of chi to his left and the world ran in slow motion. The rebel leaders lept from the tree line all of them combining their strength into one massive combination move. As Radditz looked on, the wave was aimed at the Ouji and Radditz barely had time to leap to his feet as it barreled closer.  
  
A blinding flash of white made diamonds dance in his vision as he struggled to stay standing as hysteria broke across the ranks. When the points of light faded, Radditz could see King Vegeta clasping his broken son to his chest and pointing a death finger at the three men that ran like hell's fire was on their heels. Radditz grasped the nearest man and screamed into his face, "Find five good men, follow me!" His mind had gone numb, the rebels hit even after their troups had given into the Ouji's request for peace. Turning his head and barking over his shoulder, Radditz saw the faces of several men following him blanche, "Somebody bring a bucket, we'll need something to bring them back with..."  
  
  
  
  
-------  
a/n: next chapter: some nice action, hopefully it will be graphic. bare with me. classes just started and i'm trying to balance my time. for everyone still waiting for some well deserved lemon, it's coming. o.- 


	18. Chapter Eighteen

The rebel leader Diffon dropped himself into a low trench surrounded by brush. Panting, he pushed a dark brown lock from his eyes and tried to steady his heartbeat. _That aught to show them I'm serious._ He hitched his breath and stared out through the brush holes as their pursuers ran past. Grinning he leapt from his spot, watching carefully behind him as he ran out of his fox hole straight into a broad chest.  
  
"Going somewhere?" Radditz grinned a vicious set of teeth glowing in the dimming light. Diffon let out a startled gurgle as a tight hand clamped around his throat and precious air burned in his lungs. Radditz growled, he curled his fingers tighter into the man's soft throat. "I should choke the life out of you, but I want you to suffer." Diffon swung out at Radditz, trying to get the mammoth to break his grasp. He caught a finger in the scar on Radditz' cheek and dug as hard as he could. Hissing out breath, Radditz swung his face out of Diffon's reach and bit at the hand that still swung. Chomping into empty air twice, three times, Radditz finally connected and he bit down with deadly force. Diffon tried to scream, but the restriction in his lungs wouldn't allow it. Radditz spit the severed pieces of two fingers at Diffon, the bloody nubs grasping at the air as they spasmed. Gripping a handful of thick brown hair, Radditz hauled the man to his full height and punched him in the stomach.  
  
Collasping into a gasping heap, Diffon tried to protect his head with his arms as Radditz kicked him in the face. Satisfying crunches and grunts under his boots. Radditz rolled the man onto his back with the heel of a boot and dropped a crushing knee to his chest. Air flew from his lungs along with specks of blood and bits of tooth. Diffon's face had turned a deep purple, his eye and half his face puffing up. "You make me sick." Radditz spat into the man's face, a chunk of phlegm rolling down a split in Diffon's chin.   
  
Raising one booted foot he stamped down on Diffon's neck, a soft crunch under his sole and he twisted his foot violently back and forth like he were snubbing a cigarette. Radditz pulled his foot from the sticky mess and shook bits of flesh and coagulating blood from his toe. A sudden yelp from behind him and a man landed on his back, beating at his neck and shoulders. One lucky shot caught Radditz squarely in the ribs and he dropped to his knees as flaring reds and golds of pain sparked his vision.  
  
At the sound of running feet, Radditz gazed through his clouded vision at a man running full tilt toward him. Bracing his shoulder, Radditz grasped the man by the ankles and flipped him over his back, hearing him slam face into the ground behind him. Favoring his left side, Radditz turned and stepped into the man's lower back. Grasping his arm, Radditz wrenched up and backward until the man's screams echoed along the treeline. With a deep growl, Radditz heaved and ripped the man's arm from it's socket. The rebel convulsed at his feet, spraying blood and gurgling in shock. A spurt traced along Radditz lip and at the taste his eyes sharpened and he lept on the helpless man, beating him with his own disembodied limb. The man curled into the fetal position, trying to fend off the crazed saiyajin. Radditz grasped his hair and snapped the man's head back, revealing the soft flesh of his neck. The rebels eyes went wide and then glazed as Radditz ripped at the man's throat with his teeth, tearing out pieces and letting them fall from his mouth haphazardly with pools of spit and crimson. "Radditz!"  
  
Radditz spun, teeth bared, raising the arm above his head to strike. A young guard looked like he was going to wet himself but stayed firm, "Radditz, leave that man alone...he's dead." Radditz blinked several times as the words sunk in before he looked at the still corpse. Radditz dropped the arm and looked back at the boy standing in front of him.  
  
"Where is the other?" A menacing growl curdled the boys stomach as he tried to remember what the elite wanted him to tell Radditz, but were too scared to do themselves.  
  
"They have him beaten, he's being brought back to King Vegeta alive...as per his request." The boy barely kept the waver out of his voice as Radditz spat onto the ground and paced before him. "They say that the Ouji is recovering..." Radditz head snapped up and the guard jumped.   
  
"He is alive then?" Radditz didn't hear the answer, only smiled slightly at his foolishness in thinking his Ouji would die because of three fools. "Is he at the castle?" The guard nodded even as Radditz walked past him and then began running back to the now clearing field. Sighing with relief, the guard nearly fell down after the stress of the moment. "Boy!" Snapping back to attention his voice wavered.  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Bring those bodies back with you." After pointing at the two men twisted into the ground, Radditz ran out of sight again. Stepping toward the first body, the guard nearly retched as he picked a torso up and the head of Diffon still lay on the ground.  
  
Mumbling to himself the boy did as he was told, biting back bile as he picked up various pieces. "Why did I have to join D.S.?" 


	19. Chapter Nineteen

The palace was entirely too quiet for Radditz' liking. He hadn't even seen an attendant when he went through the halls, it looked as though the place was deserted. Another set of footfalls echoed in the hall behind him, Radditz turned and was suprised to see his uncle walking slowly toward him. Turles gave him a small smile as he approached and without a word beckoned his nephew to follow him. Radditz had only been to the palace a small handful of times, and he never got much farther than entrance hall or the throne room. After several twists and corners, stairs and doorways Radditz soon felt a little uneasy being in the depths of the royal house. Sensing his younger companions uneasyness, Turles slowed a pace to let the youth gather in his surroundings.  
  
The walls hung with heavy tapestries, all intricately woven and with so much detail Radditz could almost feel the action buzz around him that was recorded in the ancient rugs. Most of them were in the colors of the royal house, deep crimson and charcoal shades, but some of them were more realistic in color to the scenes they depicted. As they walked toward an arch Radditz stopped to stare at a wall hanging that draped across the upper portion of the walkway. It was woven with an odd material that Radditz couldn't place, but it was beautiful none the less. A collage of patterns ran around a center portrait of the very first king of Vegetasei, it was so detailed it seemed that the king was trapped in the silken material after giving the throne to his son. Turles stepped up beside Radditz and gazed up at the portrait himself.  
  
"This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." Radditz' voice was barely above a whisper in the deep queit of the hall. Turles nodded and motioned for Radditz to touch the tapestry. Tentatively Radditz reached out, barely stroking it with his fingertips. The texture was as soft as satin and slightly coarse where the direction of thread changed; he had never felt anything like it. "What is it?"  
  
"Hair." Turles lightly ran a finger down a boarder, touching scenes of battle and other faces of great kings. Radditz looked at him oddly then smelled his fingers, the scent of ages breached his brain. One of the scents stuck in his mind slightly and he looked to his uncle in hopse of an answer. "This is taken down after a new king is inducted; his mate weaves a pattern, or sometimes a picture like that one of our King Vegeta there on the edge, with their hair. Don't look at me like that boy, it's just what is done. Not a lot of people know about this piece, they tend to just keep it here so that billions of saiyajin won't touch it. It is centuries old and it hasn't even begun to fall apart, they want to keep it that way."  
  
"How do they have enough hair? It must take decades to finish even a square of this!" Radditz looked up at it with a new sense of awe.  
  
"Aye. Usually another with the talent to weave helps the mate. Your own mother helped weave that portrait with the queen. Your father is still held in high regard here, and in your mother's time she was too. She helped weave half of that square and used her own hair to help the queen finish before she died in childbirth."  
  
"Amazing..." Radditz let his eyes play over the patterns and smelled his hands again. It did smell like his mother, at least that's what his mind told him.  
  
"Come on, I didn't take you this way so that you could gaze at the scenery." Turles began walking at a steady pace and Radditz soon followed looking over his shoulder at the tapestry before it wound out of sight.  
  
*~*~*~*~  
  
Now thoroughly lost, Radditz walked closely beside his uncle as the passageways narrowed and he noticed that they passed more and more people as they went. The smell of anticeptic caught up with them as they neared what Radditz assumed was the infermory, his chest constricted slightly as he realized he would soon see his broken prince. As Turles pushed open a door, Radditz caught sight of Vegeta laid out on a bed in the corner, a white sheet pulled to his waist and a blood soaked bandage wrapped around his chest. Radditz' eyes widened and he felt like bolting to Vegeta's side to make sure he was alive when the King stepped in front of them and fully obstructed his view.  
  
"Turles, Radditz, it's good to see you both well." Turles nodded and sharply elbowed Radditz in the ribs to stop the boy from twitching. Radditz sucked in a sharp breath and grunted, he'd nearly forgotten about his rebroken ribs. As he started to sit down, Turles grabbed him and hauled him into a chair, motioning for a medic to look at him. King Vegeta looked down at Radditz with sharp eyes. "I assume the other two traitors have been dealt with?"  
  
Radditz had to concentrate on what was said as he kept eyeing Vegeta from across the room. "Aye, sir."  
  
King Vegeta gave a curt nod, "Good. I can only guess that they're being brought back in pieces by the way that you took after them." Both Turles and the King laughed. Radditz looked up at them, a blank expression on his face. "It was only a joke boy. Don't look so serious." Turles watched his nephew carefully. A guardsman thumped into the room, breathing a little heavy.  
  
"King Vegeta, sir, the other two bodies have been brought back." With a shaky breath, the guard tried to compose himself.  
  
"Good, where are they?"  
  
"Well, sir, the guards are doing their best to bring them in without making too much of a mess. It seems they keep having a problem keeping hold of a head and an arm..." The guard's face turned a little green and he looked like he was going to be sick.  
  
King Vegeta frowned. "Explain."  
  
"Sir, the head keeps slipping from Guardsman Choe's grasp and no one else will touch it. And the arm...*ulp*..." The man ran from the room, cupping a hand over his mouth and clutching his stomach. King Vegeta and Turles both turned toward Radditz with a semi-shocked look.  
  
"You, wrap this boys ribs. I'll be back to see my son shortly." A medic nodded and began to gather items to fix Radditz while the two men left the room.  
  
Radditz sat in irritated patience, wishing the medic would finish his task so that he could see Vegeta. When the medic stood and started to speak, Radditz leapt from his chair and pushed the woman out of his way. He stood looking down at Vegeta, he was terribly pale and the deep crimson stain on his dressings made him look worse. Radditz watched his chest rise slowly and without hesitation and felt better. Wiping sweat from the Ouji's brow, Radditz looked around him and noticed the medic had left. He bent and tenderly kissed Vegeta's dry lips, brushing a stray spike out of Vegeta's face. Vegeta stirred, a soft sigh escaping his lips, he cracked open one eye slowly, squinting at the bright light. Radditz smiled down at him and saw a glint of recognition on the Ouji's face before the eye closed again. Radditz sat and smoothed the sheet across Vegeta's waist. Twisting his mass of hair around his arm, Radditz saw spatterings of blood and muck and grimaced. He needed to clean up before Vegeta saw him again. 


	20. Chapter Twenty

Leaning heavily into the hot spray of water, Radditz stretched himself and shook his thick mat of hair. Droplets of water flew and he grinned. Turles had shown him to a guest room after telling him of his need to clean up. Turles had looked at him oddly for a moment, wondering why his nephew would need to clean so urgently, but let it go when King Vegeta told him to lead the boy to a room. A female attendant had come in when he was very nearly naked and left with an armload of filthy clothing and a heated flush. Radditz laughed to himself after she was gone, at least he wasn't as ugly as he guessed he might have been.  
  
Now the steaming water washed away the filth of battle and eased the pain in his ribs with warm fingers. Turning off the shower, Radditz stepped out into a room full of steam and breathed deeply. The warm air filled his lungs and made him feel drowsy as he stumbled from the bathroom. He hadn't realized how late it was but the sun had already set and deep shadows were thrown around the kingdom from the harsh moonlight. _That explains this exhaustion..._ Radditz drug his feet to the bed and pulled the heavy covers back. Silken sheets called softly to him and with a small smile and a grunt, he let them embrase him.  
  
~Standing at a window, a warm night breeze blew Radditz' heavy locks behind him. He smiled into the wind leaning heavily into the arch on his elbows, clad in nothing but baggy pajama pants. A light floral sent caught in the breeze and filled his room with the smell of early spring blossoms. Radditz closed his eyes and let the smell waft over him, a new scent pulled at his senses. Cocking his head to the side he breathed in deeper, it smelled vaguely of upturned earth after a heavy rain. Deep and heady. Whispers of moving cloth caught his sensitive ears and he turned; Vegeta stood in his entryway a pair of red silk boxers pulled snug across his thighs. Radditz swallowed as his mouth nearly began to water. With a small smirk Vegeta walked in, his chest was whole, nothing to show of its previous abuse. Radditz walked the space between them, scooping the small prince into his arms and engulfed his mouth with his own.   
  
Purring, Vegeta pushed away and dropped lightly onto the balls of his feet. Radditz watched him in surprise and longing. Curling his fist into a Radditz pajama bottoms, he pulled the large saiyajin behind him; pushing him down into the bed. Vegeta straddled his large chest, finger combing the large locks around Radditz' head before he bent and left a seering kiss. Moaning, Radditz grasped the back of the Ouji's head and held him there firmly a moment before running his hand along his smooth back and cupped his bottom.  
  
Grinning into the kiss, Vegeta began nipping at Radditz' lips then licked and sucked at his jaw line. Vegeta moved slowly down Radditz' chest, leaving moist kisses and an eager saiyajin squirming beneath him. As warm full lips grew further south, Radditz hissed and hawed while Vegeta chuckled deeply. Scratching nails left small furrows of crimson. Vegeta looked up at Radditz as his face contorted between pain and pleasure. Cupping his lover's growing erection Vegeta grinned, "What am I going to do about this...?" Radditz watched in enraptured expectation as Vegeta pulled the waist of his pants down and began to lower his head...~  
  
  
Radditz woke with a heated start. His body covered in a deep flush he wiped the sweat from his eyes and pushed his soggy hair out of his face. His heart pounded in his chest as the remnants of that blissful dream flickered slowly out of his mind. Groaning at the tented sheets he cursed whatever had woken him from his sleep. Sitting up slowly and planting his bare feet on the cool marble, Radditz began to wonder what _had_ woken him. Walking soundlessly to the door, he pulled the heavy oak open and walked down the hallway. After going around a couple corners, Radditz looked around himself in confusion. His lack of knowledge of the castle had the best of him again and now he wandered; trying to retrace his steps...completely and utterly lost. The darkness that had invaded the castle during the night left him reaching carefully to his sides so that he didn't break something priceless, or so he hoped.  
  
The castle was drafty, small chilled breezes blew down the corridors and wrapped themselves around Radditz' shoulders. Shivering, Radditz cursed himself for not grabbing at least a robe or some shoes before venturing into the halls. He padded along, an eerie silence sticking to the cold air as he tried to find either his room or someone who could show him the way out...at least then he could walk home. Walking down a long hall, Radditz noticed there were more outlines of decoration along the walls. For the first time he felt like he was somewhere he shouldn't be. A low moan barely made it to his ears and Radditz turned his head slightly in the direction it appeared to have come from. Stopping and holding his breath he strained to hear and was rewarded with another low moan. It came from down the hall, behind a room with a high archway and an oak door with a busted beam. Radditz' breath caught in his throat, he recognized the door and the smell that came from the other side. Biting his tongue and fighting away the voice in his head that told him to walk away, Radditz pushed open the door and stepped carefully through. On a large four post bed in the corner, Vegeta lay in twisted, sweat soaked sheets. A small lamp on a nearby table shed dull light into the large room, barely touching an adjacent wall and gaining its luminescence barely to the middle of the room. Radditz lifted the lamp carefully and walked across the room, watching the Ouji as he fought in his sleep. Someone had cleaned the tatters that had been left carelessly on the floor. Radditz wondered where they had put his medals.   
  
Reaching the side of the bed, Radditz set the small lamp on a side table and crawled carefully to the middle of the large bed where his Ouji lay. Vegeta's face was scrunched in pain, sweat ran slowly from his temple and beads shone across his brow. Radditz climbed from his spot and found his way clumsily to the bathroom, getting a damp cloth before returning to Vegeta's side. Wiping carefully at Vegeta's face, Radditz settled beside him, watching the Ouji's face as it calmed under the soothing cloth. A shuddering cough brought the Ouji nearly upright in bed and very nearly fully awake. Radditz stiffened in shock. Putting a hand to his head and then to his chest, Vegeta grimaced and coughed hard again. Suddenly stiffening, he turned his head slowly toward Radditz who was currently rubbing slow motherly circles along Vegeta's back.   
  
"Radditz?" Vegeta's voice was hoarse and dry. He grimmaced at the rough texture in his throat and swallowed.   
  
"Aye, Vegeta, it's me." Radditz stopped patting his back as Vegeta shifted. Slowly sliding backward, Vegeta came to rest between Radditz' legs and relaxed against his chest. Radditz shifted slightly to give the Ouji more room before wrapping his legs around Vegeta's. Vegeta snuggled into the crook of Radditz' arm and sighed before lightly coughing twice. Radditz leaned back amongst the heavy pillows, dragging Vegeta with him. Radditz wrapped his arms around Vegeta loosely and smelled his loves musk and nearly groaned out loud. This wasn't going to be an easy night.  
  
Radditz drowsed, coming back to reality when Vegeta would cough or grunt in his sleep. Radditz hugged Vegeta closer, bringing the small compact frame as close to him as possible. His right hand felt warm and Radditz carefully unwound his arm from his sleeping prince. His palm had been resting across the gauze on Vegeta's chest, and now it was coated with deep crimson. 


	21. Chapter Twentyone

Bardock jogged through the halls toward the main room. King Vegeta had sent an emessary to get him, and from how flustered the poor boy looked, something was happening. As he neared the main doors, guards pushed them open for him and shut them as quickly as he passed through. The sound of his stamping feet came to a stop just outside the main room and Bardock took a deep breath before he went inside. King Vegeta sat crookedly in his chair, his chin resting on a fist. Looking drained and tired, the king motioned Bardock to come forward.  
  
"Bardock, it seems we have a problem." The king repositioned himself, sitting up straight and looking down his thin nose at Bardock. Bardock merely nodded, waiting for King Vegeta to continue. "Your boy won't let anyone past Vegeta's door." Bardock shook himself while his mind processed what had just been told.  
  
"What do you mean, sire?"   
  
"I mean, this morning a medic went in to treat my son and Radditz nearly killed him when he crossed the threshold." Bardock sat with a thump and King Vegeta nodded, it had been his initial reaction when he heard the news. "You need to do something, he's your brat and the longer he keeps help away, the worse my son is going to get." Bardock stood, understanding what the King wanted, but not quite sure how to go about it. Bardock walked quickly to the door and pushed it open. "Bardock..." He turned his head. "If you can't get that boy to cooperate...I won't hesitate to have him killed."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The hall outside of Vegeta's room was half in shambles, and there were splatterings of what Bardock only guessed was blood along one wall. Several guards blocked the last fifty feet of the coridor but moved out of the way as Bardock approached, muttering to themselves. Bardock tensed in front of the doorway, he could feel the tension in the room in front of him, as well as smell the protectiveness his son was emitting. Knocking sharply on the door, Bardock looked through one of the many holes that now graced it to see his son tense on the bed, clutching Vegeta to his chest like a doll. "Radditz...can I come in?"  
  
Bardock watched from the holes, his son was trying his best to figure out what to do. He started to lay the prince in the bedding but crushed him to his chest again. Bardock pushed the door slightly open, a deep groaning of the bruised wood made Radditz growl a small warning as his father stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Not walking any farther into the room, Bardock looked around at the mess he assumed his son had created. Tapestries hung haphazardly, some half shredded. Tables were overturned and here were circular ki burns along the wall that supported the door. "What's going on, Radditz?" Bardock tried a tender tone, one he had little practice with.  
  
Radditz eyebrows furrowed as he lightly rocked Vegeta. "Go away." Bardock looked from his son to the prince. Vegeta was deathly pale, he looked unconscious but still alive. Bardock stepped further into the room; Radditz growled deeper and drew himself up into a corner of the bed, pulling Vegeta with him.   
  
"You need to let a medic take care of Prince Vegeta." Bardock winced at the snarl he earned. _Fine...he doesn't want to play this way, I'll have to try a different approach._ Bardock drew himself to his full height, squaring his shoulders and looking down his nose at his son. "Radditz!" The name snapped off of his tongue like a whip. Radditz eye's widened slightly before they narrowed. "You will lay Vegeta down and get off of that bed! Do you understand?" Radditz' lips curled off of his teeth as his father came closer. "Now boy!" Reaching nearly to the side of the bed, Bardock's blood pulsed through his veins. Radditz wasn't letting go.  
  
Suddenly, Radditz' snarling face cracked, his deep eyes welling with hot tears. Bardock cocked his head and eyed him, not sure of what to do. Balling, Radditz pushed dark locks from Vegeta's pale face. Tears trailed down his face and Radditz howled, the guards in the hall gripping their ears and falling to their knees. Bardock knelt on the bed and grasped his son's forearm. Watery eyes looked up at him, "He's dead, dad." With a deep sniff and a hiccup, Radditz bit his lip as a new spring of tears leapt into his eyes.  
  
"He's not dead." Bardock looked down on the bloody prince, seeing for the first time the deep red that ran down the Ouji's chest. A deep cresent impression at the Ouji's collarbone caught his attention, and he looked up at his son incredulously. "Is that...that's not...you did..." Bardock couldn't form a complete sentence, simply stared at his son.   
  
Radditz nodded his shaggy head and scrubbed at his eyes with the back of one hand. "It's my fault. He was so close...I...I just..." Bardock sat back, still in shock. "GAWD, what is wrong with me?! I couldn't even wait for a couple more days! And now he's dead, and it's my fault." Radditz sobbed, nestling his face in the Ouji's mess of spikes.  
  
"He isn't dead." Bardock shook his son. The Ouji was still breathing, though shallowly; Radditz was just too emotional after what he had consumated during the night. "Let a medic take him to the ward, he'll be fine, but they need to take him _now_." Radditz looked at his father, his eyes run dry.  
  
"No." Bardock couldn't believe his ears.  
  
"What do you mean no?!"  
  
Radditz pushed himself to the edge of the bed, picking the Ouji up like a sleeping child. "I'll take him." Bardock nodded, running ahead of his son and kicked the door from its hinges. He pointed to the guards at the end of the hall as they stood gaping. "You, make way, the Prince is being brought to the infermory!" Radditz exited the door behind his father, carrying Vegeta. Bardock fell in step just ahead of him, directing his son to the med ward. He turned to watch his son, Radditz walked steady his face a look of stone determination. Radditz shook his heavy mane as a chunk of hair fell into his eye. Bardock's eyes widened, on his son's tanned shoulder was a deep moon that matched Vegeta's. 


	22. Chapter Twentytwo

a\n: This chapter is NOT FOR CHILDREN DAMMIT! It's for all those reviewers who keep nudging and winking at me to write some YAOI. lol here you go guys.  
  
  
  
Vegeta floated in a bubble of fluid, eyes closed and chest wound exposed for all the worlds to see. Radditz sat to the side, resting his chin on his knees. He hugged his legs closer and watched Vegeta's hair sway in the slow movement of liquid, unaware of the words spoken across the room.  
  
Bardock nodded solemnly, looking at his forelorn son before turning back to the speaker. King Vegeta sat in a chair, arms folded across his chest. He had recently learned of what only the four men in the room knew...Radditz and Vegeta were bonded. Tugging at the hair at the nape of his neck for a moment, he recrossed his arms again. "There isn't anything we can do about it now..." King Vegeta grunted and narrowed his eyes. "How can the boy be so foolish? To bond when he was so near death?"  
  
Bardock simply shook his head and looked at his son again. "I honestly don't know what to make of it, sire." The king watched his son float about for a moment before looking at Radditz. _The boy looks lost._ King Vegeta stood and placed a hand on Radditz' shoulder. Looking up in surprise, Radditz shifted uncomfortably.  
  
"Stand up boy." King Vegeta's face was a placid pool, a retained composure that his son would have been proud of. Raddtiz did as he was told and squared his shoulders. "Hmm..." King Vegeta circled him, making small clicking noises in his throat. Grasping a fistful of Radditz hair, he pulled the boys head back and turned his face violently back and forth with his free hand before letting go entirely. "I see..." Radditz tensed, unsure of what was happening. He looked at his father with his eyes, pleading for an answer. "Eyes forward! I never said you could move." King Vegeta growled. Stopping directly in front of the youth he touched the cresent scar with an index finger. It had scarred over nicely, Vegeta's sharp teeth had left an even, clean cut. "Well," Radditz held his breath. "It seems all in all...he could have chosen worse." With a snort, he walked past Radditz and exited.  
  
Letting his breath out in a quick blast, Radditz had to stop himself from slumping to the floor. Bardock laughed and walked forward, patting his son's shoulder. "Well my son, it seems that you've been at least deemed worthy." Radditz grinned up at him with a pale face. "You stay here as long as you wish, I'll see what I can do with the king. He's not as upset as he seems." With a small nod, Radditz swiveled to face the clear glass that kept him from his mate.   
  
*~*~*~*~ Days Later ~*~*~*~*  
  
A small click reached sensitive ears. Cracking slightly open, tired onxy eyes scanned the surrounding area. A light hiss and breath of cool clean air touched his wet skin. Vegeta shivered as he pulled a mask from his face. Taking in a deep breath, he stretched his cramped muscles. His pupils dialated as a strong scent invaded his mind. Warm spiced cider. Looking around himself, he saw he was indeed alone, the room was dark except for the small light that pulsed out of the bubble he had emerged from. He breathed deep again, the smell engulfed him and his body tingled. A light pull at the back of his mind caught his attention and he focused on it. A flood of images invaded his mind, all of them slightly fuzzy. One of them came in sharply before it faded away, Vegeta gasped and blinked, the line of images faded. With one hand, Vegeta gingerly touched his neck. A bump of a scar met his fingertips and he let them play over it a moment. _It's true then._ As he began to search for something to dry off two strong emotions colided in his mind. Worry and longing. The towel forgotten, he turned and left, wet footprints left in his wake.  
  
The halls were quiet, he could only guess how long he had been in the rejuvination tank. Knowing the corridors like the back of his hand, he followed his love's strong scent to a guest room not far away. Pushing open the door, he stepped soundlessly inside and shut the door lightly behind him. His feet padded across the carpeting until he reached what he was looking for. Radditz lay stretched on a pile of twisted sheets, he looked like he hadn't changed and fell into bed in exhaustion. Moonlight cut through the window and fell across his shoulders and face, the pale light accenting the deep scar along his cheekbone as well as one that graced his shoulder.  
  
Grinning, Vegeta crawled carefully to his lover's side and traced the scar with his finger; enjoying the bounce of Radditz' neck tendons. Lightly kissing the scar, he earned a light sigh. "That just won't do." With an evil smirk Vegeta picked up the sleeping tail that lay amongst the sheets. Slowly petting it's length, Radditz shifted in his sleep. Vegeta blew on the tip and ruffled the fur backward releasing a throaty laugh as it fluffed out and Radditz shivered. The Ouji's eyes caught a bulge at his mate's crotch and another evil smile pulled at his lips. After carefully removing Radditz' pants so that he wouldn't wake, the prince nipped at his loves taught abs and inner thighs as he slowly made his way to the prize. Engulfing Radditz' full length with his warmth, the larger saiyajin groaned in his sleep. Starting a steady pace, Vegeta bit lightly at the tip of Radditz' erection, a light sheen of sweat glistening on Radditz' forehead. Vegeta felt Radditz' muscles tighten under his hands and an increase of murmurs told him that his time was running down. A spasm sent a wad of cream into his throat and Vegeta nearly thrown from the bed as Radditz jerked up, panting.  
  
Radditz' eyes grew wide as a light tint of pink flushed his cheeks; thinking the Ouji had caught him muttering words of passion in his sleep when he noticed the satisfied grin and swollen lips on Vegeta's royal face. About to make a snappy remark, Radditz blinked and grasped Vegeta by the shoulders, hauling him into his lap. "You're alive!" With a small frown Vegeta replied.  
  
"Of course I'm alive." Radditz hugged the Ouji tight to his chest before he rolled and pinned the small prince beneath his bulk. Vegeta opened his mouth to protest but was cut short as a demanding tongue delved into his mouth and tasted all the corners it could find. Gasping, Radditz began to nip at the Ouji's jaw and neck before he tongued the cresent scar he found. Vegeta arched under him and hissed, swirls of color danced in his vision as Radditz licked and sucked at the small moon. Sliding a thigh between Vegeta's legs Radditz found him already aching with need. Realizing for a moment that Vegeta was naked his body told him it didn't care why. Radditz ran a hand down Vegeta's chest, twirling the ball of his thumb around a bead of a nipple before reaching around under the Ouji and pressing his fingers into the base of his tail.   
  
White danced in the prince's vision as heat lightening danced along his spine and he held his breath. Radditz stopped and looked down at Vegeta as his eyes unclouded. With a large grin Radditz buried his face in Vegeta's hair and twisted his body so that he rested between his mate's legs. As their erections caused friction Radditz bit his lip; Vegeta gasped under him and he bit it harder to keep some control. "Vegeta, I--" Without finishing his sentence, the Ouji nodded in frustration. Placing himself just at Vegeta's entrance he looked down at the handsome face below him before he pushed slowly in. Vegeta hissed out in pain and Radditz tried his best to give him time to adjust before pulling slowly out and delving inside again. Radditz squeezed his eyes shut to keep the tears from falling, Vegeta was too beautiful. His tight heat clamped around him and he could barely keep himself from ravaging the older saiyajin. Vegeta's tail wound around Radditz' and clamped tight as Radditz hit a sweet spot deep inside that brought points of light dancing in his vision.  
  
Moving faster, Radditz growled and grunted, holding his weight on his arms as he watched the beauty beneath him moan. Curling his tail around Vegeta's neglected manhood, he started to keep pace with his thrusts and was rewarded with sharp teeth at his collar bone. Radditz' world came undone, howling he pressed deeper and harder, his lovers grunts and moans keeping his mind elated. "Radditzu..." Radditz opened his eyes and looked down into glowing onyx. "I'm not made of glass." Radditz slowed in slight confusion when Vegeta's warm mouth clamped over his love bite and sucked for all he was worth. Radditz could no longer hold himself off and collapsed onto the Ouji's compact frame. With a growl of satisfaction, Vegeta curled one hand around the base of Radditz' tail as he started small strokes.  
  
With a small whimper, Radditz licked the sweat from a hollow of Vegeta's throat as he felt the tension in his abdomen grow. Quickening pace, Vegeta soon felt the pressure build in his stomach and fisted both hands in Radditz' heavy locks as Radditz bit at the cresent. Howling, Vegeta spilt his seed across their stomachs and panted; pressing his fingers into Radditz' tail spot as his release came.  
  
Rolling to the side, Radditz pulled the Ouji to his chest and stroked his hair as he purred. Grinning, Vegeta curled into his lover wrapped his tail around Radditz thigh as he dozed. Kissing the tip of his mate's nose, Radditz breathed in Vegeta's scent before he too fell asleep.  
  
  
  
  
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a\n: I hope that was worth waiting for guys, it is my first yaoi piece so I hope i did it some justice. 


	23. Chapter Twentythree

a/n: Nelly: good eye! that's a typo, I'm too used to Kakkarot/Vegeta stories and got myself confused. lol  
  
~*~*~*~*Passage of Time*~*~*~*~  
  
Vegeta looked from the balcony down into the entrance of the castle. Radditz had returned, followed by a large bald man that Vegeta could only guess was who Radditz called Nappa. Grinning, Vegeta tried to think of what the two were scheming behind closed doors. He didn't really care about the whole project, he was too busy trying to envision what his mate was going to look like without all that hair.  
  
A voice called to him from the inside, it seemed his father was ready to see him. "Ouji-sama, your father is calling for you." Stepping through the doors he walked across the heavy carpeting to his father's chambers and sat, nervously twitching the tip of his tail. When his father entered, he stood and bowed low at the waist and sat again when his father motioned to the chair.  
  
"Vegeta, are you ready for tomorrow?" After receiving a small nod, the king continued. "I'm glad. I'm quite proud of you, you're going to make a fine king."  
Radditz shifted uncomfortably in a chair and winced. He had spoken to Nappa a week or so ago, telling the elder about his son. Radditz had expected to be beaten to death by the large mound of muscle, but the bear of a saiyajin nodded his bald head, thanked Radditz for coming all that way then invited him to join himself and Lunna for dinner. Radditz had graciously accepted, they ate talking of the odd times that had passed in such a short while. After dinner had been eaten, Radditz fidgeted with his napkin until Luna looked at him oddly and snatched it away.  
  
"You boys talk den, I'm gonna go pack some more of Bite's things." With a small smile, Lunna got up from the table and left.   
  
Radditz took a deep breath to begin to speak, but stopped and looked away from Nappa. With a large grin Nappa slapped him on the back, "What is it? You don' have to be so nervous."  
  
Picking at invisible lint on his shirt, Radditz spoke softly. "I wonder if you could help me with something important."  
  
Nappa leaned forward in his chair, his face softening into a fatherly mold, "If it's in my power, o' course I'll help ya boy."  
  
With a small grin, Radditz cheeks began to tint, "Would you teach me to weave?"  
  
Roaring laughter echoed around the small kitchen. Nappa wiped away tears from his cheeks and smiled. "Sure, boy."  
  
That's how it had started. Radditz had to explain to Nappa what exactly they were going to do, and how important it would be. Nappa eyes had widened after being asked such a request but had graciously accepted, especially learning that Radditz was the prince's bond-mate.  
Now, Radditz gripped the arms of the cushioned chair and winced again, this time rubbing the back of his head. A booming laughter behind him made Radditz turn around and scowl. Nappa grinned wide, "It's a good thing you have lots o' hair, ne? I don' mean to pull, but yer hair is so thick." Radditz nearly sighed as his fingers ran through close to half an inch of freshly cropped hair. _There goes twenty years of growth down the drain..._ After another ten or so minutes Nappa grunted in satisfaction, "Der...all finished." Radditz turned to see several baskets filled with masses of his dark locks. His head felt lighter, but he shivered as a breeze crossed the back of his neck.  
  
Walking to a mirror, Radditz' mouth hung agape. It wasn't that the new haircut looked bad, but he had been used to seeing mountains of hair falling down his back. Now it stuck off of his head in small messy points. Running a hand over his head he sighed. "Guess we'd better get started now, it's going to take a while to finish this thing." Nappa nodded and pointed to a chair across from himself. In one hand he held a picture of what Radditz had chosen to be weaved, in the other he had a fistful of hair. The heavy tapestry had been taken down and now rested across a massive table in a private room. Taking the picture from Nappa's hand, Radditz looked down on it and smiled. "Is this going to be too complicated?"  
  
Nappa shook his head and began knoting chunks of hair, "Not so bad really, I just don't know how you managed to alter dat picture."  
  
Radditz grinned and looked at the photo again. It showed Vegeta from the chest up, a flow of golden hair upswept in an aura of flickering static. Cornflower eyes glared dominance, and his infamous smirk. "It wasn't that hard really..."  
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a/n: Sorry this chapter is so blunt, i couldn't really think of a way to end it. thank you everyone who reviewed. this story came out a lot longer than I had originally intended. I hope I didn't dissappoint anyone too badly.  
--additional: I'm taking Nelly's imploring review and thinking quite hard about a Piccolo/Vegeta story. sounds tasty... *drools* it'll probably take a while but look for some time in the future. ^.~ 


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